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MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 



MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

IN THE 

MISSISSIPPI YALLET 



AN ACCOUNT OF MAECHES AND ACTIVITIES 
OF THE FIEST EEGIMENT UNITED STATES 
DEAGOONS IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY 
BETWEEN THE YEAES 1833 AND 1850 



BY 

LOUIS PELZER 






% 



PUBLISHED AT IOWA CITY IOWA IN 1917 BY 
THE STATE HISTOEICAL SOCIETY OF IOWA 






D. of D. 

MN !7 1918 



EDITOR'S INTRODUCTION 

Many of the marches and other activities of the 
First Regiment of United States Dragoons be- 
tween the years 1833 and 1850 were within the 
boundaries of the Iowa country. And so the 
early history of this military unit comes within 
the scope of the researches and publications of 
The State Historical Society of Iowa. 

Since the later activities of the First Regi- 
ment between the years 1850 and 1861 were 
mainly in the region of the Far West, their his- 
tory is not traced in this volume. 

Benj. F. Shambatjgh 

Office of the Superintendent and Editor 

The State Historical Society of Iowa 

Iowa City Iowa 



AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

Three regiments of dragoons have appeared upon 
the military rosters of the United States. The First 
Regiment of Dragoons — the subject of this volume 
— existed from March 2, 1833, to August 3, 1861. 
Until about 1850 this unit served largely in the Mis- 
sissippi Valley in the work of frontier defense, gar- 
rison duty, treaty negotiations, marches, expeditions, 
patrol duty, exploration, and in the enforcement of 
federal laws. 

These services influenced the westward drift of 
population, complementing the work of the ex- 
plorers, the missionaries, the boatmen, the Indian 
traders, the surveyors, and the engineers. The an- 
nals of our western posts have not yet passed into 
such picturesque accounts as hover about Quebec, 
Ticonderoga, or Pitt. The names of great soldiers 
in the frontier army are few. Nor do military glory 
and renown follow the American soldiers over their 
western trails. But homage and recognition are due 
to the thousands of plain, frontier soldiers for their 
quiet unadorned and often unheralded services — 
whether at lonely Mississippi River posts, in the 
protection of trade caravans, in travels over the 
cacti-covered plains, or in marches from post to 
post. 



viii AUTHOR'S PREFACE 

A regimental history of the First United States 
Dragoons yields a cross sectional view of the work 
of the frontier army in the West. Such history has 
been preserved in officers' reports, the accounts of 
travellers, post records, diaries, journals, order 
books, and correspondence. This material, contain- 
ing facts, descriptions, narratives, and impressions, 
enriches our knowledge of the staples of western 
history. 

This volume of western military history is an 
outgrowth of the writer's Henry Dodge. Chapters 
IV and VI of the present volume are a recasting of 
chapters VIII and IX of that biography. Other 
chapters have been read at the spring meetings of 
the Mississippi Valley Historical Association at 
Nashville and at Chicago. The author believes that 
Captain Boone's Journal in the appendix is printed 
for the first time. In the case of the spelling of 
Indian names the author has attempted to follow 
that of the Bureau of American Ethnology. Ac- 
knowledgments are due to Dr. Benj. F. Shambaugh, 
the Editor, and to Dr. Dan E. Clark, the Associate 
Editor, of The State Historical Society of Iowa, for 
critically editing the manuscript. The index was 
compiled by Dr. John E. Briggs. 

Louis Pelzer 
State University of Iowa 
Iowa City Iowa 



CONTENTS 

I. Soldiers on the Feontiee, 1829-1830 1 

II. On the Way to Jepfeeson Baeeacks 13 

III. In Wintee Quaetees at Camp Jackson 23 

IV. The Expedition to the Pawnee Pict 

Village 34 

V. Colonel Keaeny on the Rivee Des 

Moines 49 

VI. Peaieie Travels to the Rocky Moun- 
tains 64 

VII. The Westeen Military Feontiee 

1837-1840 76 

VIII. Pateol and Garrison Duties in Iowa 

Territory 88 

IX. On the Canadian and Arkansas 

Rivers 97 

X. Captain Allen's Journey to the 

Northwest ..... 108 

XL Captain Sumner's Visits Among the 

Sioux 115 

XII. Colonel Kearny on the Oregon 

Teail to South Pass . . . 120 

XIII. Flying Camps feom South Pass to 

FoET Leavenwoeth . . . 134 



CONTENTS 



XIV. With the Aemy of the West . . 142 

XV. The Campaign to CALiFOiiisriA . . 151 

XVI. Majoe Woods's Visit to the Red 

Rivek op the North . . . 161 

XVII. Soldier Lipe at Old Fort Leaven- 
worth 169 

Appendix — Captain Boone's Journal 
OF AN Expedition over the West- 
ern Prairies 181 

Notes and References . . . 241 

Index 267 



r 



SOLDIERS ON THE FRONTIERS 

1829-1830 

A SURVEY of the regular army of the United States 
in 1830 reveals a force of about six thousand men. 
The seven regiments of infantry and four of artillery 
encircled the inhabited portions of the United States 
in a line extending over six thousand miles. This 
army, composed of small units widely distributed 
and ever changing in its personnel, performed the 
military functions for a nation comprising 1,752,000 
square miles of territory and containing a popula- 
tion of nearly thirteen millions.^ 

Fifty-six companies, aggregating 2555 men and 
stationed at sixteen establishments, comprised the 
western department of the army. By 1830 seven 
posts formed the line of defense on the middle 
western frontier — a frontier usually advancing be- 
fore the westward drift of settlement and following 
the receding Indian population. In this irregular 
zone extending from Fort Snelling to Cantonment 
Gibson in Arkansas Territory were performed the 
varied and irregular functions of a frontier army.^ 

Each year an expensive system of recruiting was 
necessary to keep the numbers of this small army 



MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 



intact. In 1830 up to September 30th recruiting 
officers under the direction of Lieutenant Colonel 
J. H. Vose enlisted 1538 men at an expense of over 
$27,000. Of these New York City alone furnished 
302, and ninety-six came from Boston. Such enlisted 
troops were subjected to a season of training and 
instruction and then found their ways over various 
routes into army posts to be absorbed into the 
general service. '^ 

Desertions constituted a perpetual menace to the 
army. In 1830 such desertions numbered 1251, of 
whom 188 had escaped from their rendezvous or 
before joining their companies. The Adjutant 
General's figures indicated a steady increase of the 
evil since 1826, and he estimated the financial loss to 
the government from this evil at $102,087 for the 
year 1830. In eight years, he further estimated, the 
government had suffered a monetary loss -of over 
half a million dollars.^ 

Much academic discussion of the causes and the 
remedies of this evil burdens the reports of army 
officers for 1830.^ The payment of bounties in 
advance encouraged the enlistment of such vagrants 
who "enlist to-day and desert to-morrow". Others 
remained upon the rolls only long enough to receive 
four or five months' pay and the most costly part of 
a year's uniform and clothing. 

A second cause of desertion was the inadequate 
system of punishments in the army which tended to 
degrade offenders rather than to produce penitence 
or reformation. General Gaines urged that certain 



SOLDIERS ON THE FRONTIER 



forms of punishment corroded and destroyed the 
latent elements of moral feeling in a soldier. He 
severely condemned the following punishments then 
prevalent in the army: branding, marking with 
durable ink, and all such inflictions which tended to 
mutilate or cripple culprits; attaching a ball and 
chain or an iron collar on the leg or neck of the 
offender and compelling him to perform hard labor 
in public ; shaving the head, putting a rope of straw 
around the neck of the offender, or requiring him to 
stand upon a barrel. 

General Gaines recommended severe but guarded 
penalties for the five crimes of desertion, cowardice, 
mutiny, habitual drunkenness, and stealing. "I have 
seen," wrote this officer, ''I think, hundreds of idle 
men who appeared better satisfied with a ball and 
chain attached to one of their legs, with the privilege 
of indulging in the filthy habits of drinking, and 
eating, and sleeping in a warm guard-house, without 
the trouble of cleaning themselves and their arms 
for honorable service, than when in the discharge of 
the regular duty of men under arms. But I have 
never seen one of those vicious idlers whipped with- 
out seeing some positive indication of the fact that 
the operation intended as a punishment was felt as 
a punishment, and by bad men only feared as a 
punishment. This means of punishing the most 
vicious will tend rather to invite good men into the 
service than to deter them, as without this kind of 
punishment the best of men are obliged to watch and 
labor w^hilst the worst of them sleep under guard. ' ' 



MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 



Other causes ascribed for desertion were the too 
frequent changes in company commanders, the ab- 
sence of officers from their units, the inadequate pay 
of the soldier, and the undue length of the term of 
enlistment for the common soldier. 

But the greatest foe to the army in 1830 and a 
sure cause of desertion was the prevalence of intem- 
perance among the soldiery. The government issued 
to its six thousand men in this year 72,537 gallons of 
whiskey at a cost of $22,132 or about one cent per 
gill.'^ Besides his daily ration of one gill of whiskey 
the soldier could sometimes obtain liquor from the 
army sutler or from the swarms of hucksters or 
whiskey-peddlers who hovered about almost all the 
army posts. 

The testimony of army officers upon the evils of 
intemperance in the army was practically unanimous 
in 1830. Nearly every company had its habitual 
drunkards and these tended to corrupt the habits of 
their comrades. The proceedings of courts-martial 
proved that intoxication almost always preceded and 
usually caused the crime of desertion. In 1829, how- 
ever, the Surgeon General had asserted that ''a 
large portion of the sin of intemperance which is 
laid at the door of the army belongs in truth to the 
community from which it is taken. "^ In the same 
year a lieutenant expressed the belief that if the 
whiskey rations were abolished from the army the 
courts-martial would hear only one-third as many 
cases of desertion and that the number of lesser 
crimes would be reduced eighty per cent. ''A 



SOLDIERS ON THE FRONTIER 



soldier", lie explained, "becomes intoxicated, and 
absents himself from roll-call ; is confined, and after 
a night's lodging in the guard-house, tortured with 
thirst and all the nameless agonies which succeed a 
debauch, he is set at liberty, and perhaps 'detailed 
for duty.' He resorts to the bottle to free himself 
from what he justly calls the horrors, and is found 
* drunk on duty.' He is again confined, tried, and 
perhaps sentenced to a forfeiture of pay ; w^hen, dis- 
heartened, vexed with himself and all around him, he 
flies again to the bottle for relief, and anticipating 
further punishment, deserts. ^'^ 

Measured by later standards the pay of the com- 
mon soldier in 1830 seems low. Five dollars was the 
monthly wage; and this with the clothing, rations, 
and other allowances made the entire monthly 
amount about fifteen dollars. ''The American sol- 
dier", wrote the Secretary of War, "is well paid, 
fed, and clothed ; and, in the event of sickness or dis- 
ability, ample provision is made for his support. "^*^ 

But no provision existed for the moral culture of 
the hundreds of troops on and beyond the western 
military frontiers. There were no chaplains or 
religious agencies to minister to the moral and 
religious nature of the soldiers. The number of 
deaths reported from the military hospitals for the 
year ending June 30, 1831, was one hundred and 
twenty-six. Of these twenty-one died from con- 
sumption, twenty-two from intemperance, and 
eighty-three from other causes. ^^ No ministers were 
present to give reproof and admonition during the 



MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 



life of these men, nor could tlie soldiers in death 
receive the consolations of religion. 

Perhaps more picturesque but less serviceable 
were the soldiers ' uniforms and clothing for the year 
1830 than for the present time. A chance visitor at 
Fort Crawford, Fort Leavenworth, or Jefferson 
Barracks might have seen a most varied assortment 
of army clothing. But a quarter-master of to-day 
could find much of interest in the prices of soldiers' 
dress in 1830. Privates' drilling overalls cost $.62; 
the price of a pair of shoes was $1.24; the army 
blanket sold for $2.50 ; and the knapsacks cost $1.53 ; 
flannel drawers were priced at $.87; and a pair of 
laced bootees, $1.48. Great coats for service in the 
cold winter climates were purchased for $6.56, More 
ornamental articles, such as the pompon, band and 
tassel, and the cockade and eagle cost respectively 
twenty, twelve, and six cents. ^- 

During the year ending September 30, 1830, the 
annual supply of arms and accoutrements was dis- 
tributed among the soldiers at the various posts. In 
the list are reported 40,000 musket cartridges, 6500 
flints, 742 gun-slings, 940 muskets, 882 cartridge- 
boxes, 107 swords, and over 900,000 pounds of lead. 
The ordnance department also reported the distri- 
bution of such articles as rocket paper, wipers, 
cannon balls, a siege mortar, rosin, bayonet belts, and 
nearly 15,000 pounds of powder.^^ 

Soldiers at the western posts were compelled to 
endure much dreary monotony. Stationed hundreds 
of miles from home, often far removed from settle- 



SOLDIERS ON THE FRONTIER 



ments and society, the troops frequently felt longings 
for a return to civil life. The public uninterested 
and uninformed in the distant garrison duties had 
little pride in the regular army of the United States. 
Newspapers quick to describe Indian wars or mili- 
tary duels saw little of interest in the work of the 
common soldier. 

The manual labor performed by the soldiers pro- 
vided some relief from the mechanics of months of 
garrison life. On the western frontier the soldiers 
aided in the construction of hundreds of miles of 
military roads running from one post to another. 
In nine months of the year 1830 the government paid 
out nearly $14,000 for soldiers' labor on surveys, 
opening roads, building barracks, and erecting quar- 
ters and storehouses.^* The new building at Fort 
Crawford was completed in the summer of 1830 and 
in the same year a soldier workman with three com- 
panions spent ten months in building the stone 
powder magazine for this post.^^ 

Disabled and discharged soldiers constituted a 
problem of charity in some western communities. 
At Jefferson Barracks such veterans found their 
way to St. Louis, as did many fur traders, lead 
miners, and adventurers stranded from the Missis- 
sippi River steamboats. Others lingered on the 
streets of St. Louis disabled by wounds or disease or 
driven to a premature old age by intemperance and 
debauchery. The city government in 1830 called the 
attention of Congress to such soldiers, who were 
without regular employment or industrious habits. 



MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 



A memorial asking for the erection of a hospital in 
the city was sent to Congress. ''These unfortu- 
nates", read the petition, '^ cannot be allowed to 
perish in our streets with sickness and want; and 
they ought not to be left to private charity. "^^ 

A long westward march executed in 1829 and 
reported to the United States Senate in 1830 stands 
as the most picturesque and perhaps the most 
important service rendered by the army during these 
two years. ^^ This expedition of four companies of 
infantry commanded by Major Bennet Riley spent 
six months on the Santa Fe road. The purpose of 
the march was to furnish a military escort for a 
caravan composed of about seventy-nine men and 
thirty-eight wagons bound for the Mexican markets 
in Santa Fe. 

This detachment of western soldiers accompanied 
by their wives and children embarked on a vessel at 
Jefferson Barracks early in May, 1829. ' ' The deck", 
wrote a lieutenant, "was barricaded with beds and 
bedding; infants squalled, and chickens cackled". 
After a ten days' voyage the boat discharged its 
passengers at Cantonment Leavenworth — an un- 
healthful site recently abandoned by a company of 
infantry. Nearly three weeks were spent here in 
preparing the men for their adventures on the 
western plains. 

Major Riley's infantry accompanied by twenty 
wagons laden with flour and by four ox-carts bearing 
camp equipage left the cantonment early in June, 
crossing hills, ravines, and prairies in bloom. The 



SOLDIERS ON THE FRONTIER 9 

teamsters labored with the oxen ; a cart broke down. 
On the way the command passed the house of the 
Delaware Indian sub-agent, ''who, with ready joke 
and julep, did his best to make our long farewell to 
the settlements, a lively one." In a week Major 
Eiley arrived at Council Grove and there greeted the 
assembled traders. 

For about three weeks the soldiers and traders 
travelled over the Santa Fe road together — from 
Council Grove to Chouteau's Island on the Upper 
Arkansas River. The sameness of prairie landscape 
was relieved by such stations on the road as Diamond 
Spring, Cottonwood Creek, Turkey Creek, and Cow 
Creek. For about one hundred and thirty miles the 
route lay along the Arkansas River. From the high 
sandy hills the troops gazed upon great moving 
herds of buffalo which furnished sport and food for 
the command. 

Chouteau's Island was the westernmost limit of 
Major Riley's escort duty. From here the traders, 
after receiving careful instructions from the major, 
resumed their march toward Santa Fe, which was 
about four hundred miles distant. A few hours later 
a horseman dashed into the major's camp bringing 
the news that the caravan had been attacked by a 
band of Indians and that a trader had been killed. 
Major Riley quickly broke camp and rejoined the 
traders with all speed. The Indians had escaped, 
but Major Riley continued to escort the traders many 
miles into Mexican territory. The suffering from 
heat and thirst grew intense, and on July 13th about 



10 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

thirteen yoke of oxen gave out. Three days later the 
escort returned to Chouteau's Island. 

Nearly three months — from July 16 to October 
13, 1829 — Major Riley's command remained near 
Chouteau's Island waiting for the caravan which was 
to return from Santa Fe to the States. Indian 
alarms and attacks were frequent, and one day 
Bugler Mathew King was killed by an Indian arrow. 
The camp was nearly always under arms. ''I never 
failed for months", described an officer, 'Ho sleep in 
pantaloons and moccasins, with pistols, and a loose 
woollen coat for a pillow; my sword stuck in the 
ground in the mouth of the tent, with my cap upon 
the hilt." 

Hunting was a pleasure and a necessity; buffalo 
meat with a half ration of flour and salt was the 
daily fare. Terrified deer and antelopes sped away 
over the hot plains and the soldiers captured the 
swift hares in the rushes and tall grass. ''I had a 
nearly tame one," wrote Lieutenant Cooke, "which 
fed on rushes, which would disappear in its mouth as 
if pushed through a hole." Now and then they 
would pass through prairie dog villages and frighten 
badgers and foxes or a drove of horses which dashed 
away from the caravan. ''Buffalo, wolves, rattle- 
snakes, and grasshoppers, seemed to fill up the 
country", observed Lieutenant Cooke. 

During the warm summer days the troops near 
Chouteau's Island fished, hunted, and made hun- 
dreds of buffalo powder-horns. The more skilled 
troopers carved out of the buffalo horns such articles 



SOLDIERS ON THE FRONTIER 11 

as spoons, combs, cups, buttons, and ^^ wine-glasses^ \ 
Then the transportation vehicles were put in order; 
but five wagons and three carts were condemned. 
Shortly thereafter Major Eiley ordered the wagons 
to be stocked with fifteen days ' rations of pork, salt, 
beans, vinegar, soap, candles, and a quantity of meat, 
flour, and bread. 

Not until October 12, 1829, did the Mexican 
caravan of Creoles, Spaniards, Indians, and French- 
men arrive at Chouteau's Island. Major Riley 
estimated the value of the traders' goods and their 
two thousand horses, mules, and jacks at about 
$200,000. Military courtesies were exchanged and a 
feast was given in honor of the Mexican officials. 
'^ Seated cross-legged around a green blanket in the 
bottom of the tent; we partook of bread, buffalo 
meat, and, as an extraordinary rarity, some salt 
pork ; but to crown all, were several large raw onions, 
for which we were indebted to the arrival of our 
guests; a tin cup of whiskey, which, like the pork, 
had been reserved for an unusual occasion, was 
passed around, followed by another of water." 

Twenty-five days of marching lay before Major 
Riley's companies when they began their homeward 
march to the Missouri River. Adjutant J. F. Izard 
superintended the work of grazing the herds of stock 
and of guarding against stampedes. The soldiers 
again saw immense herds of buffalo. Seventy mules 
overcome by cold and fatigue were left on the 
prairies. It was November 8th when Major Riley's 
troops, abounding in good health and spirits, re- 



12 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

turned to their dingy huts and sheds at Cantonment 
Leavenworth. 

Thus year after year the soldier in the West 
drilled, marched, executed Federal laws, and shifted 
from post to post. When his term of enlistment 
expired or when he became disabled younger and 
rawer recruits replaced him. The common soldier 
witnessed the West letting in the population, the 
establishment of other military posts, and the retreat 
or removal of the Indian tribes. Some of the soldiers 
bore a part in quieting the Winnebago alarm of 1827 
and others participated in the Black Hawk War of 
1832.^^ The United States Rangers, organized in the 
same year, ranged the western frontier. The vet- 
erans of this regiment brought training and valuable 
experience to its successor — the First Eegiment of 
United States Dragoons. 



n 

ON THE WAY TO JEFFERSON BARRACKS 

While praising highly the services of the rangers, 
Secretary Cass urged that they now be converted 
into a regiment of dragoons. This would be less 
expensive by $153,932; frequent reenlistments and 
reorganization of the rangers meant loss of time, 
experience, and efficiency; the dragoons would be 
equal in celerity of movements ; the elements of cav- 
alry tactics would be preserved and strengthened; 
and finally, horsemen would be indispensable at the 
many scattered frontier garrisons in overtaking and 
chastising the marauding Indian bands of the far 
western plains. ^^ 

A bill ''for the more perfect defense of the 
frontier" was signed by President Jackson on March 
2, 1833.-^ The regiment to consist of ten companies 
of seventy-one men each was to be commanded by a 
colonel. All were to be subject to service either on 
horse or foot and in every respect were to be gov- 
erned by all the rules and articles of war which 
regulated the peace establishment. 

Eighteen dragoon officers were commissioned two 
days later.-^ Henry Dodge, already distinguished in 
Indian wars, was to be the colonel of the regiment, 

13 



14 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

while Stephen Watts Kearny, a veteran of the battle 
of Queenstown Heights, was made lieutenant colonel. 
Captain Edwin Vose Sumner and Lieutenant Philip 
St. George Cooke later became veterans of two wars. 
And Lieutenant Jefferson Davis, who had graduated 
from West Point five years before, was, thirty years 
later, to become President of the Confederate States. 

Enlistments for the regiment were made during 
the summer months of 1833. To avoid sectional 
feelings recruits were secured in nearly every State 
of the Union. Hundreds of young men weary of 
cities and society joined the troops which were to 
''scour the prairies of the region beyond the waters 
of the Mississippi." Company E under Captain 
David Perkins was recruited from the young men of 
New York City.-^ 

Early in August, 1833, Lieutenant John H. K. 
Burgwin's troop, enlisted at Sackett's Harbor, New 
York, commenced its long journey to Jefferson Bar- 
racks, the headquarters for the regiment. In a 
stormy lake voyage they were tossed from Buffalo to 
Erie. In Ohio the smoky, dismal towns of Warren, 
Wellsville, and Steubenville marked their progress. 
From Wheeling the course over the Cumberland 
Eoad led them past Zanesville, Columbus, and 
Springfield. From Cincinnati a steamer bore them 
to Louisville where Lieutenant Colonel Kearny ap- 
peared and related that Captain Sumner's dragoons, 
likewise from "New York, had embarked on the 
steamer "Helen Mar" only about a week before. A 
lazy voyage along the Indiana shore finally brought 



ON THE WAY TO JEFFERSON BARRACKS 15 

them to the Illinois banks to find the ''Helen Mar" 
grounded on a sand bar. Lieutenant Burgwin now 
transferred himself to the belated vessel, and after 
two days she was again afloat. Rounding the point 
at the mouth of the Ohio, the "Helen Mar" steamed 
against the powerful current of the Mississippi 
and in two days landed its dragoons at Jefferson 
Barracks. ^^ 

Lieutenant Cooke's recruiting services took him 
early in the summer of 1833 to western Tennessee. 
There the villages of Columbia, Dover, Clarksville, 
and the squalid hamlet of Reynoldsburgh were 
visited. The town of Perryville furnished ''some 
hardy recruits, whose imagination inflamed them 
with the thoughts of scouring the far prairies on fine 
horses, amid buffalo and strange Indians". At 
Jackson he observed the election of Davy Crockett 
to Congress. Leaving Nashville, Cooke's company 
of dragoons floated down the Cumberland River in 
a lazy keel-boat. At Paducah the force was trans- 
ferred to a steamboat, and soon the young Ten- 
nesseeans were mingling with the troops at the 
barracks.-^ 

In the fall of 1833 a corps of about thirty dra- 
goons who had been enrolled in the eastern States 
was travelling to Detroit over Lake Huron and 
across Green Bay.^^ Moving up the Fox River and 
across the portage, the troops descended the Wis- 
consin River where, perhaps, a few recalled that 
Father Marquette and Louis Joliet had followed the 
same trail more than a century and a half before. 



16 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

But instead of rejoicing over the life and verdure of 
June the dragoons were noting the somber and sullen 
approach of winter. 

Fort Crawford was visited ; but a river voyage of 
about six hundred miles still lay ahead of the 
dragoons, and the increasing cold roused fears that 
ice would soon close the navigation of the Mississippi 
River. On November 17, 1833, the two barges bear- 
ing the soldiers began their journey toward St. 
Louis. With keen regrets, it may be imagined, the 
young lieutenant and his men took leave of the 
hospitable mess of Colonel Taylor and the warm- 
hearted comradeship at Fort Crawford.^*^ 

Six oars, sometimes aided by powerful square 
sails and always by the steady current, urged each 
barge forward. Soon the bustling scenes of the 
G-alena lead mines were reached and left behind by 
the boats. They glided past innumerable" islands, 
marshes, thick forests, and sandbars whitened by 
flocks of swans. But the silence and the solitude of 
those days have long since disappeared in the sights 
and sounds of the cities, towns, and hamlets of four 
States. 

At night landings were made on the bank or on an 
island. A number of men then felled trees ; others 
built the fires; the seven tents were raised; and in 
about an hour's time the cook announced supper. 
The blazing logs, the lounging troopers, the cheerful 
mess, and the huge sycamores silhouetted against 
the sky made a picturesque scene. "The men were 
a merry set," wrote a passenger on one of the barges^ 



ON THE WAY TO JEFFERSON BARRACKS 17 

"looking forward to the future possession of their 
horses, arms, and regimentals with considerable self- 
complacency ; and many a song then echoed through 
the hoar forests for the first time ; some of the most 
approved, such as 'The hunters of Kentucky' or '0 
'tis my delight in a stormy night in the season of the 
year/ became from their frequent repetition almost 
a nuisance. ' ' 

A day was spent at Fort Armstrong 2''' where 
some of the men enjoyed the warm hospitality of its 
commander and his wife. A swift passage over the 
Des Moines Rapids hurried on the barges. Four 
days after leaving Fort Armstrong a calm night and 
a full moon permitted a nocturnal cruise of fifty 
miles. This brought them within about twenty miles 
of St. Louis. It was just nine days since leaving 
Fort Crawford that the young lieutenant and his 
men presented themselves at the post of Jefferson 
Barracks. 

To the travel-worn recruits the sight of the bar- 
racks was no doubt a welcome relief after their long 
journey. Romantically situated ten miles below St. 
Louis, on a bold bluff overlooking the Mississippi, 
the stone buildings formed a hollow quadrangle, one 
side of which opened upon the terrace bordering the 
river. From here the young dragoons observed the 
steady current of the Mississippi and, beyond, the 
pale cliffs and extensive woodlands of the Illinois 
shore. It is not unlikely that General Henry Atkin- 
son had discovered here artistic as well as strategic 
features when he erected the post in 1826.-^ 



18 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Outside the parallelogram the dragoons noted the 
commissary's house, the magazines, and the exten- 
sive but unfinished stables. In the rear of the 
garrison rose a grove of forest oaks whose broad- 
spreading branches shaded a neat burial ground. 
''The number of its white wooden slabs", described 
Flagg in 1836, ''gave melancholy evidence of the 
ravages of the cholera among that corps of fine 
fellows which, four years before, garrisoned the 
Barracks." On the southern outskirts of the bar- 
racks lay another burial ground which contained the 
tombs of officers whose last services had been per- 
formed at this post.-'' 

Such was the station which had been chosen to 
contain the reserve forces for the southern, western, 
and northern frontiers. "From its central position 
and its proximity to the mouths of the great rivers 
leading into the interior, detachments, by means of 
steam transports, may be thrown with great rapidity 
and nearly equal facility into the garrisons upon the 
Upper Mississippi, the Missouri, the Arkansas, Eed, 
or Sabine Rivers. ' ' Brigadier General Henry Atkin- 
son, had been the commander here in 1832 when the 
Sixth Infantry of about two hundred and fifty-three 
men was enabled to reinforce the army in the Black 
Hawk War.2« 

Disappointment, however, was the lot of the dra- 
goons whose long journey had left their clothing 
ragged and threadbare. Having been assured by 
recruiting officers that their military clothing would 
be in readiness at the barracks, the young soldiers 



ON THE WAY TO JEFFERSON BARRACKS 19 

had left all surplus garments behind. Month after 
month passed but no forage caps were issued and no 
jackets or overalls had replaced the tattered gar- 
ments of the sergeants, privates, or musicians. 
October and November came but no woollen overalls 
or great coats for any winter campaigns. ^^ 

The unfinished stables were another source of 
annoyance : day after day during the summer months 
troops were equipped with saws, hammers, pickaxes, 
shovels, and other implements and then set to work 
at building the stables. Captains sent their men 
across the Mississippi to cut down timber and to tow 
it to the other side — and all without any compensa- 
tion. Murmurings and whisperings of fraud and 
corruption passed current among the soldiery. 
*'This regiment", complained one dragoon, ''was 
not enlisted to build stables, and some of our men 
have signified their disrelish of the work by not 
remaining to see it finished.'' ''^'^ 

Dragoon cartridge-boxes, holsters, sabre belts, 
and arms likewise had not yet appeared at the post. 
Old muskets were disinterred from the arsenal where 
they had reposed since the last war with Great 
Britain. These condemned pieces could be shoul- 
dered for the various movements on the drill 
grounds, but in skirmishing could neither be aimed 
nor fired. "Permit Me", wrote Colonel Dodge late 
in August, 1833,=^3 ^^to Call the attention of the Genl 
in Chief to the absolute Necessity of ordering the 
Cloathing and Arms intended for the use of the U S 
Dragoons [.] there are four Companies at this port 



20 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

[post] and Capt Sumner is daily expected with an 
additional Company [.] the recruits are all here 
Much in Want of Cloathing and it is important We 
should have our Arms[.] it is important that the 
Dragoons should be drilled at Target Shooting as 
well as to fire with precission on Horseback [.] the 
season is fast advancing [.] " 

It is little wonder that desertions were of almost 
nightly occurrence. Barrack rooms were without 
bunks ; and even some of the kitchen implements had 
been purchased with the soldiers' money. Months 
of monotonous maneuvers had been endured; 
sentinels had wearied of lonely midnight guard 
duty; officers were sometimes arrogant; and not un- 
likely homesickness had raised longings for the 
sights and sounds of New York City or for the quiet 
and companionship of New England homes. 

Privates, sergeants, and corporals wearying of 
such routine and hardships had deserted. ' ' Oppres- 
sion every day growing more and insupportable," 
declared one soldier, ''the dragoons began openly to 
murmur, and the guard-house was kept continually 
filled to overflowing. Courts-martial were in con- 
tinual session; and for the most trifling neglect of 
duty, men were tried and sentenced either to walk 
the tow-path all day with a bag of shot on their 
shoulders, or to confinement in the guard-room." 
In one case a whole battalion was drawn up to wit- 
ness the punishment of a deserter. Fifty successive 
lashes with a cat-o '-nine-tails were laid upon the 
victim's bare back. Salt and water were roughly 



ON THE WAY TO JEFFERSON BARRACKS 21 

applied to the bloody wounds and the victim was 
then consigned to the dreary walls of the guard- 
house.^^ 

One company after another of fine-appearing men 
had reached the fort during the summer and fall of 
1833. An observer of that year wrote :^^ "The re- 
cruits for the service of the newly-raised regiment 
of dragoons organizing for the future service of the 
frontier, .... were distinguished from the 
rag-tag-and-bob-tail herd drafted into the ranks of 
the regular army, by being for the most part picked, 
athletic young men of decent character and breeding. 
They were all Americans, whereas the ordinary 
recruits consist either of the scum of the population 
of the older States, or of the worthless German, 
English, or Irish emigrants." 

In the first drill, however, the raw and undisci- 
plined troops resembled not a little the army of Jack 
Falstaff. The rawest dragoons furnished a ludicrous 
sight to the older men who had already learned the 
commands of "attention", "halt", "column for- 
ward", and "guard right". Sergeant Roberts was 
the only man who knew how to put his left foot fore- 
most. In spite of long extra duty in the awkward 
squad Private Cooke never learned how to put his 
left foot foremost and, suddenly taking "leg-bail", 
he deserted his regiment. 

"Col. Dodge", described one trooper, "is in com- 
mand of the regiment, a man about say fifty, thick 
set, somewhat gray, a thorough backwoodsman, very 
fond of talking over his own exploits; he was, I 



22 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

believe, a militia general, and obtained the colonelcy 
of this regiment on account of his late exertions 
during the Black Hawk war on the whole a clever 
man, but not much of soldier. "^° 

Early in October the dragoon horses arrived — a 
collection of blacks, creams, greys, sorrels, and bays. 
Weeks and weeks of almost continual drills rendered 
them quite familiar with military movements. On 
November 9, 1833, the first battalion parade under 
the command of Major Eichard B. Mason was held 
on a beautiful spot about a hundred yards to the rear 
of the barracks. The next day the inspector general 
appeared, and, followed by his staff, marched 
through the ranks and pronounced men, horses, and 
equipment in excellent order.^^ 



Ill 

IN WINTER QUARTERS AT CAMP JACKSON 

For some weeks camp stories and rumors of pros- 
pective marches had been afloat among the soldiery. 
Late in November of 1833 the order to march five 
companies to Fort Gibson gave cheer and buoyancy 
to the drill-worn recruits. On the 20th of that month 
the companies formed on the parade ground, the 
baggage-wagons were loaded, the bugle sounded, and 
Colonel Dodge gave the order to march. ^^The 
prisoners," wrote a trooper, "consisting of eighteen 
men under sentence for desertion, and other capital 
offences, were made to walk hand-cuffed and chained, 
some with a cannon ball to the leg, flanked on either 
side by the rearguard. And thus commenced the 
Regiment of Dragoons their first march. "^^ 

Only three or four miles were made on the first 
day's march, which ended at Camp Burbees. Here 
the underbrush was cleared away. The white can- 
vas tents of each company were formed in two rows 
and the horses were picketed in the intervening 
space. The animals were then fed and curried. A 
large heap of logs soon yielded a fire which crackled 
and cast a glare over the encampment. Then came 
the evening meal, tattoo, and the posting of the 

23 



24 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

sentinels. The blazing embers of the open fire died 
down as the fatigue and excitement of the day gave 
way to sleep. 

Early reveille summoned the troops to the second 
day's march of twenty miles. On the third day the 
little army advanced twenty-three miles through 
picturesque scenes : "mountains and valleys so richly 
thrown together ; forests and prairies so beautifully 
interspersed ; the elm and sycamore towered high in 
the air; the ledges of broken rocks emitted forth 
their tiny torrents, which gently meandered on their 
course through the tangled foliage. "^'^ 

Sunday, the 25th of November, 1833, was spent in 
marching seventeen miles. The falling snow and the 
increasing cold now induced the command to halt in 
the middle of the afternoon. Now and then a fat 
buck would be captured for the evening mess; but 
the scarcity of fodder made it necessary to reduce 
the daily ration for the horses to ten ears of corn. 
On the 8th of December the soldiers came upon the 
silent ruins of an old town of the Delawares. Small 
log-built huts were decayed and moss-grown; but 
giant oak trees still preserved the vividly carved 
history of the tribe 's bloody wars — a record which 
made the quiet and desolation of the once powerful 
village all the more impressive. 

A few days later a luckless trooper lost his car- 
bine, for which he was compelled to lead his horse 
twenty-three miles over a rough course as punish- 
ment. The boundary line between Arkansas Terri- 
tory and Missouri was crossed, and the little town of 



WINTER AT CAMP JACKSON 25 

Fayetteville next noted the passage of the regiment. 
Soon heavy forests of oak, elm, and pecan were left 
behind, and the marches then averaged twenty-five 
miles per day. On December 15th Illinois Creek was 
forded and that night the dragoons camped upon its 
banks. 

Fort Gibson having been passed on the afternoon 
of December 17, 1833, a temporary encampment 
named Camp Sandy was made nearby upon a sand- 
bar which projected half-way across the Grand 
Eiver. Here the fatigued and half-starved men 
pitched their tents ; a few of them set out to visit the 
soldiers of the Seventh Infantry then stationed at 
Fort Gibson and commanded by Colonel Matthew 
Arbuckle.^*^ At the fort a warm-hearted, cordial 
reception was given the dragoons, and question after 
question by the infantrymen long isolated from the 
rest of the world elicited news concerning the scenes 
and associations of earlier and happier days. 

The dragoon horses had arrived in good condi- 
tion but were soon suffering from want of provender. 
Colonel Dodge immediately upon his arrival at Fort 
Gibson called upon Colonel Arbuckle and was in- 
formed that eight thousand bushels of corn for the 
horses had been contracted for. But the bitterly 
cold weather of early January caused six inches of 
ice to freeze on the Grand River. Navigation was 
stopped and it became impossible to deliver the corn 
at the fort. The leaves and tender stems of cane 
were then used for feed, and twice a day the soldiers 
might have been seen emerging from the brake with 



J 



26 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

huge bundles. Next the animals were turned loose 
in the brake, but a stampede resulted and the horses 
scattered to various sections of the country. An 
officer and a party of men were therefore sent after 
the strayed animals, and after considerable difficulty 
brought them back to camp.^^ Early in February, 
1834, Captain Sumner was ordered to proceed to 
Washington County in Arkansas Territory to at- 
tempt to secure forage and a quantity of corn not to 
exceed five thousand bushels. 

''The Month of Jany", wrote Dodge in February, 
''has been unusually inclement [.] the freezing 
weather Killing the Cane was unknown in this 
Country heretofore [.] the Severity of the weather 
injured the on the [sic] Dragoon Horses [.] the 
favorable change in the winter and a Supply of Corn 
having arrived the public Horses are Now recruiting 
fast and will be in good order in one Month frorn this 
time[.]"^- A steamboat bearing a quantity of 
clothing for the dragoons became stranded about 
twenty miles below the fort because of the low water 
of the Arkansas River. 

"The Arms I drew from the Arsenal", urged 
Colonel Dodge, "is of the Most indifferent Kind and 
I have No Supply of Ammunition to enable Me to 
practice the Men to target firing [.] it is a matter of 
the first importance to Make Men Servicable that 
they should be good Marksmen [.] on relieving the 
Guards I have directed the Men to fire at a target 
fifty paces and I have discovered the greater part of 
them Know Nothing about the use of Arms[.] "^^ 



WINTER AT CAMP JACKSON 27 

Camp Jackson,^'* laid out in a little bit of woods 
one and a quarter miles from Fort Gibson, became 
the permanent winter quarters for the regiment. 
Large barracks of oak shingles quartered the troops 
but afforded poor protection from the cold. The 
roofs were leaky, but buffalo robes kept the water 
from the saddles, knapsacks, and clothing, and pre- 
served a dry sleeping place for the night. At times 
rain came down the wide chimneys, perhaps be- 
sprinkling the rusty pork and the flour, or dripping 
into the camp-kettles and diluting the bean-soup. 

The long winter evenings were spent in various 

amusements. Sergeant S , six feet six inches in 

height, was generally master of ceremonies at the 
dances in which dragoons, infantrymen, Osages, 
Creeks, and Seminoles sometimes joined. Music, no 
more tuneful perhaps than the dances were graceful, 
came from two or three cracked fiddles played by the 
Tennessee boys. Guttural sounds from the Indians, 
the strains from a banjo or clarinet, and loud blasts 
by the bugler sometimes added to the hilarity and 
merriment of these festive evenings. 

In some snug corner somewhat removed from 
these sounds and seated around a tallow candle 
might have been seen a card party. And perhaps 
another dragoon could be seen reading Robinson 
Crusoe or the life of General Marion — books which 
constituted a considerable portion of the regimental 
library. But tattoo sounded and ended all too soon 
such amusements enjoyed at Camp Jackson more 
than eighty years ago. 



28 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

At the same time there is revealed the unpleasant 
side of the soldier's life. Desertions, arrests, and 
courts-martial were only too frequent in an army 
that was then chafing under much popular criticism. 
Jealousy and intrigue add other shadows to the 
picture. ''I find more treachery and deception prac- 
ticed in the army". Colonel Dodge wrote in confi- 
dence to a friend, ' ' than I ever expected to find with 
a Body of Men who Call themselves Gentlemen [.] 
My Situation is unpleasant [Jefferson] Davis who I 
appointed my adjt was among the first to take a 
stand against me Major Mason and Davis are now 
two of my most inveterate enemies [.] the desire of 
these Gentlemen appears to be to Harass me in Small 
Matters [.] they dont want to fight if Mason would 
say fight I would go to the field with him with Great 
pleasure and indeed unless Harmony and good feel- 
ing exists in a Corps the public Se-rvice cannot be 
promoted and to undertake an Expedition with such 
men I should run the risk of Losing what Little repu- 
tation I have acquired ".^^ 

Eeveille at sunrise, the doctor's call at half past 
seven, breakfast at eight, guard-mounting at nine, 
horse and foot tactics, target shooting, and tattoo at 
nine in the evening constituted the daily routine in 
the winter of 1834.-"^ On March 17th William Brad- 
ford, a second lieutenant, accidentally killed himself 
with his pistol. Two days later the entire regiment 
was mustered and the body, wrapped in the national 
flag, was borne to the cemetery at Fort Gibson. ' ' He 
was a Young officer of great promise", reported his 



WINTER AT CAMP JACKSON 29 

colonel later. ''His premature death is lamented by 
all who are acquainted with him". With arms re- 
versed the dragoons listened to a prayer by an aged 
minister; the body was then lowered, and three 
volleys of musketry were fired over the silent 
grave.^''' 

In the winter of 1834 the troops were awaiting 
orders to proceed through the extensive Indian 
country between the western boundaries of Missouri 
and Arkansas Territory and the Rocky Mountains. 
On February 15th Colonel Dodge presented his 
views on the prospective march to Adjutant General 
R. Jones.^^ The dragoons should be unincumbered 
by the infantry; all necessary supplies should be 
transported by mules ; and guides, interpreters, and 
hunters should accompany the troops. ''Twenty 
Osages should be procured to accompany the expedi- 
tion as Buffalo Hunters to enable Me to Subsist My 
Command untill the Dragoons Learn to shoot Buf- 
falos[.] their are few Men in the Command that 
ever saw a Buffaloo and would be entirely unable to 
Subsist themselves By Hunting [.] the greatest 
difhculty attending a March through the indian 
country will be in Subsisting My Command on the 
Buffaloes". 

Brigadier General Henry Leavenworth, who had 
assumed command of the left wing of the western 
department of the army, arrived at Camp Jackson 
in the spring of 1834. The plain-looking old soldier 
was a welcome arrival at the lonely barracks: his 
affable yet dignified manner made him a popular 



30 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

soldier among his brother officers. His order of 
April 23rd gave directions for a review and inspec- 
tion of the regiment of dragoons and of the seventh 
infantry to be held on the drill ground at Fort Gibson 
on April SOth.*^ 

For years the overland traders from Franklin, 
Missouri, to Santa Fe had been making demands for 
military protection for their caravans. Colonel 
Dodge was directed to send an intelligent and 
efficient officer to Missouri to learn what kind of 
escort might be needed, and Lieutenant Burgwin 
was dispatched upon this duty. Early in May it 
appears that Captain Wharton with a company of 
about sixty dragoons was ordered by Dodge to meet 
the traders and to accompany them to the Mexican 
city of Santa Fe.^« 

The ''utmost harmony", continued the order, was 
to be maintained between the traders and the tr.oops. 
The command was warned to guard against sur- 
prises, and ''should Capt Wharton Meet the Hostile 
Indians in Battle He will Charge them if possible to 
do so as the Best possible plan of defeating them", 
y Meanwhile five additional companies — F, G, H, 

I, and K — had been assembled at Jefferson Bar- 
racks, and during the months of May and June, 1834, 
were marching to Fort Gibson. The route traversed 
was approximately that pursued by the other com- 
panies in the previous November and December. A 
dragoon has left in a journaP^ a brief but interesting 
record of this movement of four hundred and fifty- 
three miles. 



WINTER AT CAMP JACKSON 31 

In an uneventful march during the first eight 
days the company advanced one hundred and fifty- 
six miles. On May 19th, the troops encamped on a 
small stream where they found good water and grass 
for the jaded horses and mules. Here one of the 
men was placed in confinement for disobedience to 
orders. Two days later the companies entered a 
broken country and an encampment was made on the 
Osage fork of the Gasconade River where they found 
fish and wild game in abundance. ^^ 

On May 24th they advanced for twenty-one miles 
over a fine, well watered country. *'We passed", 
describes the journal of Company I, ''a Village 
called Springfield with 15 or 20 log Cabbins & to all 
appearance the inhabitants are idle & lazy depending 
upon their negroes for support which is the custom 
in all slavestates. I observed no less than 4 or 5 
grog shops in fact all men in the country sell 
Whiskey & other things to us soldiers at a most 
exorbitant price — For instance 25 cts a pt for 
Whisky 12>^ cts a qt for milk &c". 

Fifteen miles were made on May 26th over a 
ground saturated with rain, and on that evening the 
company rested at Camp Cass — evidently near the 
present town of Cassville, Missouri. The men w^ere 
now reduced to half rations of meat and were look- 
ing in vain for elk and other kinds of game. Mumps 
had attacked some of the men and others were feel- 
ing the effects of eating poor food and sleeping on 
the damp ground. Mules and pack horses were in 
good condition, but no corn could be secured for 



J 



32 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

them. "This country", concludes the journal, ''is 
remarkable for insects such as snakes. Ticks, & 
Cattipillars." 

In the next two days the command rode forty- 
eight miles, but five of the dragoons who were so 
unfortunate as to become sick were left behind. On 
the following day a forced march of thirty-four 
miles brought them within seventy miles of the fort. 
Men and horses were improving daily and the spirits 
of the troopers became more buoyant as they neared 
their journey's end. ''It is now past 11", runs the 
drowsy scribble for this day, "& we have to rise 
before 3 therefore I must take to my blanketts for 
repose trusting the fatigues of the days march will 
render sleep inviting". 

After pushing forward twenty-eight miles on 
May 30th the company halted to make preparations 
for inspection at the fort. Lieutenant Colonel 
Kearny joined in the march the following day, but 
the excessive heat of Sunday, June 1st, induced the 
troops to remain encamped. The remaining ten 
miles were ridden on Monday when they arrived at 
Camp Jackson. The Bostonians of Company F and 
the Hoosiers of Company G had arrived a few weeks 
before. 

Eager to begin the summer's campaign the 
officers increased their efforts to prepare men and 

horses for the far western tour. Sergeant S 

daily instructed a class of officers in swordsmanship, 
which they in turn attempted to impart to the men. 
"Our camp is now," describes one dragoon, 



WINTER AT CAMP JACKSON 33 

"throughout the day, a constant scene of bustle and 
noise, the blacksmith shops are kept in continual 
operation, tailors and saddlers find constant employ- 
ment, and in fact no one has time to be idle ; one half 
the regiment are daily detailed to watch horses 
whilst grazing upon the prairies, which is now the 
most severe duty to be performed, standing during 
the whole of the day exposed to the heat of a broiling 
sun, which during the last week has raised the mer- 
cury to from 103° to 107° in the thermometer. "^-"^ 

The regiment of dragoons, as well as the seventh 
regiment of infantry, was reviewed by General 
Leavenworth on June 10th, and to the thousands of 
Indians and other spectators the review was an 
interesting and novel scene. The troops dressed in 
fatigue uniform and drawn up in battle array per- 
formed the maneuvers of battle, of charge, and of 
repulse, as well as other feats of horsemanship,^^ 
The later farewells and good wishes from the infan- 
trymen to the dragoons can be imagined ; but neither 
then knew that a large number of the young soldiers 
would never return from the arid western plains. 



IV 



THE EXPEDITION TO THE PAWNEE PICT 
VILLAGE 5^ 

*'The act for the better defense of the frontiers by 
raising a regiment of dragoons is in process of 
execution", Secretary Cass had written late in 1833. 
Somewhere on the Red River, about two hundred 
and fifty miles to the west of Fort Gibson, lay the 
Pawnee Pict and Camanche villages. Between the 
Missouri and Arkansas frontiers and the Rocky 
Mountains, but beyond the reach of infantry forces, 
roamed the restless Pawnees and Camanches. 

These tribes had not yet recognized the United 
States in any treaties. Without stationary resi- 
dences, but with a supply of horses, these wild 
plainsmen could be held in check only by a similar 
force occasionally displayed among them. Policy 
and humanity urged such a course, and Secretary 
Cass believed that the first United States Dragoons 
would impress upon these Indians the power of the 
United States, and excite a deeper respect for the 
government. ''It will do honor to the army", he 
said, "and render effectual service to the country. "^^ 

When Colonel Dodge on June 15, 1834, gave his 
order of "Forward, march!" nine companies of 



34 



EXPEDITION TO THE PAWNEES 35 

about five hundred men responded and began their 
summer campaign. It was an imposing cavalcade: 
the tramp of the horses on the prairie mingled with 
the commands of the officers; the proud and manly 
deportment of the young men indicated the buoyant 
hope and spirit of the army; a company of white 
horses made a striking contrast to another one of 
blacks ; while sorrels and bays gave added effects of 
color. To the rear of the companies might have been 
seen and heard the lumbering movements of the 
baggage-wagons. 

Four bands of Indians — Senecas, Osages, Chero- 
kees, and Delawares — joined the expedition to serve 
as hunters, guides, and interpreters. Two young 
girls, a Kiowa of about fifteen years and a Pawnee 
of about eighteen years, were taken with the dra- 
goons to be restored to their tribes. This policy it 
was believed would pave the way for friendly inter- 
course.^^ George Catlin, the famous portrait painter 
of Indians, had been given permission by the Secre- 
tary of War to accompany the expedition in its visit 
to the wild tribes along the Arkansas and the Eed 
rivers. ''I start this morning with the dragoons for 
the Pawnee country", he wrote on June 19th, '^but 
God only knows where that is. "^^ 

Long forced marches were made during the warm 
sultry June days. Springs and streams provided a 
bountiful supply of water and the prairies furnished 
pasturage for the dragoon horses. On the 26th of 
June they passed a band of five or six hundred 
Osages under the command of "Black Dog", a 



36 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

famous warrior of tliat nation. On the next day a 
herd of buffalo was met and General Leavenworth 
and Colonel Dodge tested the mettle and speed of 
their horses. Signs of the Pawnees became more 
abundant. On July 1st forty-five men and three 
officers were reported sick from the excessive heat, 
and each day the command pushed on with depleted 
ranks. 

On July 4th the dragoons were ferried across the 
Washita River. '^Our baggage", relates a dragoon 
of Captain Browne's company, "we transported by 
means of a raft constructed by canoes lashed to- 
gether and covered with planks. We also used a 
canvass Boat covered with gum Elastick belonging 
to Col Kearney which we found to answer an excel- 
lent purpose. Having encamped on the opposite side 
with our whole force & concluding it best to travel 
with as little encumbrance as possible, Col Dodge 
selected about 250 men & horses most able for duty 
& taking only 10 days provisions for 20 days susti- 
nence, set forward on a forced march. "^^ 

About one hundred and eighty miles had now 
been marched by the dragoons, when early in July a 
reorganization of the regiment became necessary. 
Six companies of forty-two men each were to con- 
tinue the campaign with Colonel Dodge in command. 
One hundred and nine were left for duty at Camp 
Leavenworth, together with eighty-six sick men. 
Baggage-wagons were abandoned; each man was 
furnished with ten days' rations and eighty rounds 
of cartridges ; and the march once more began. 



EXPEDITION TO THE PAWNEES 37 

Day after day through the month of July the 
command continued its march over the rolling 
prairies. Now and then a stray band of Indians 
would be observed. Wild horses in large herds 
passed ; and enormous herds of buffalo moved across 
the plains. Men and beasts were prostrated by heat 
and the strenuous campaign, while the low state of 
the provisions brought anxiety to Colonel Dodge. 
On July 14th a roving band of about forty Caman- 
ches entered the camp to beg tobacco and to talk with 
the dragoon colonel. From these Indians Colonel 
Dodge learned that the Camanches, Kiowas, and the 
Pawnee Picts (or Toyash) were friends and to some 
degree allies. ''The Camanches are, we learn," 
runs the journal of this expedition, ''the largest 
band, the proudest and boldest ; therefore the colonel 
has resolved to visit them first ; thence to the Toyash 
village, establish friendly understandings with one 
or both, or war with one or both, as may be ; officers 
and men on the alert, as if in the atmosphere of 
war.'"^^ 

Colonel Dodge now pushed on and soon arrived 
at a Camanche camp of about two hundred skin 
lodges. About a hundred mounted Camanches, 
seemingly not a little alarmed, came to welcome the 
dragoons. Thousands of horses were grazing about 
the Indian camp, and several of the officers pur- 
chased animals for a blanket or a butcher knife. 
Colonel Dodge waited for the Camanche chief, then 
absent on a hunting trip ; but after more than a day's 
fruitless waiting the regiment moved on in the direc- 



38 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

tion of the Toyash village. An Indian who had been 
at the Toyash camp promised Colonel Dodge to 
guide him thither. 

By July 19th the command had been reduced to 
one hundred and eighty-three men. Seventy-five, 
over one-half of whom were sick, had been left 
behind. Desertions had also reduced the band. For 
a month the soldiers had been without a morsel of 
bread, and their appetites had become too voracious 
to distinguish between horse flesh and buffalo meat. 
The mirage of a waterfall glistening in the sunlight 
was discovered to be a mass of salt. ''No buffalo", 
records Lieutenant Wheelock's journal. "Our un- 
shod horses suffered very much to-day ; wild horses 
in abundance, and bears; many deer were seen; a 
few were killed; scanty allowance of provisions for 
our men ; we march too fast to be able to hunt much 
on the road; game is now divided among the' com- 
mand with great care; marched in three columns; 
baggage reduced to three pack horses to each 
company. ' ' 

Across reddish granite hills, deep ravines, and 
difficult passes Colonel Dodge continued the toilsome 
and intricate route. On July 20, 1834, they were 
within five miles of the Toyash village situated on a 
branch of the Eed River. The non-appearance of 
the band convinced the dragoons that the Indians 
had either fled or that they had determined to make 
a stand and fight. Bayonets were fixed and every 
preparation for a conflict was made. On the next 
day the command proceeded a mile when they were 



EXPEDITION TO THE PAWNEES 39 

met by about sixty Indians, who seemed greatly 
alarmed and begged Colonel Dodge not to fire upon 
them. After several miles of marching along exten- 
sive and well cultivated fields of squashes, pumpkins, 
beans, melons, and corn, the dragoons reached the 
village. 

Here then was the Toyash or Pawnee Pict vil- 
lage, the main goal of this expedition, and the object 
which had been the stimulus during five long weeks 
of marching. The village, consisting of about two 
hundred grass lodges, was situated in a rich bottom 
embedded in the immense ledges of rocks and moun- 
tains. Colonel Dodge encamped in a fine position 
about a mile from the village, and the hungry dra- 
goons were soon enjoying the Indian hospitalities. 
Dishes of corn and beans dressed with buffalo fat 
were placed before them. For dessert the soldiers 
enjoyed liberal supplies of watermelons and wild 
plums; while the savages gladly exchanged green 
corn, dried horse meat, and buffalo meat for Ver- 
million, articles of clothing, knives, and tobacco.^^ 

According to the previous arrangements of Col- 
onel Dodge a grand council was held between the 
American officers and the chiefs and warriors of the 
Toyash nation. Bands of Camanches mounted upon 
their fleet horses had arrived; Pawnee Picts and 
Wecos were present in large numbers ; while the tall, 
erect, and dignified forms of the Kiowas represented 
the higher type of the Indians. It was a scene that 
well stimulated the pen and the brush of George 
Catlin. 



40 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

''We are the first American officers who have 
ever come to see the Pawnees", began Colonel Dodge 
at the first council on July 22nd. ''We meet you as 
friends, not as enemies, to make peace with you, to 
shake hands with you. The great American captain 
is at peace with all the white men in the world; he 
wishes to be at peace with all the red men of the 
world ; we have been sent here to view this country, 
and to invite you to go to Washington, where the 
great American chief lives, to make a treaty with 
him, that you may learn how he wishes to send 
among you traders, who will bring you guns and 
blankets, and everything that you want." 

Colonel Dodge then referred to the murder of 
Judge Martin, which some Indians had committed 
on the False Washita earlier in the summer. The 
Colonel informed them also that he had learned from 
the Camanches that the little son of Judge Martin 
was being held as a prisoner. "Give us the white 
boy, and we will give you the Pawnee girl that we 
have brought with us. ' ' Denials from the chiefs and 
repeated demands from Colonel Dodge were then 
followed by a gloomy silence. The accidental dis- 
charge of a pistol came like a thunderbolt and almost 
stirred the already over-strained feelings in the 
council to the war point. 

Finally a negro offered Colonel Dodge the infor- 
mation that the Indians were now holding the young 
boy as a prisoner in the village. The Colonel then 
became still more stern and persistent, declaring 
that the council would stop until the boy was sur- 



EXPEDITION TO THE PAWNEES 41 

rendered. Further consultation followed among the 
Indians, who finally sent for the young prisoner who 
had been secreted in a cornfield by the savages. The 
friend of George Catlin has given a graphic descrip- 
tion of the entrance of the child into this council. 

He is a smart and very intelligent boy of nine years of 
age, and when he came in, he was entirely naked, as they 
keep their own boys at that age. There was a great excite- 
ment in the council when the little fellow was brought in; 
and as he passed amongst them, he looked around and 
exclaimed, with some surprise, ' ' What ! are there white men 
here?" to which Colonel Dodge replied, and asked his 
name; and he promptly answered, "My name is Matthew 
Wright Martin." He was then received into Colonel 
Dodge 's arms ; and an order was immediately given for the 
Pawnee and Kiowa girls to be brought forward ; they were 
in a few minutes brought into the council-house, when they 
were at once recognized by their friends and relatives, who 
embraced them with the most extravagant expressions of 
Joy and satisfaction. The heart of the venerable old chief 
was melted at this evidence of white man's friendship, and 
he rose upon his feet, and taking Colonel Dodge in his arms, 
and placing his left cheek against the left cheek of the 
Colonel, held him for some minutes without saying a word, 
whilst tears were flowing from his eyes. He then embraced 
each officer in turn, in the same silent and affectionate man- 
ner; which form took half an hour or more, before it was 
completed.^2 

Negotiations with the Indians now became easier 
as Colonel Dodge explained that the great American 
President desired to make a treaty with them all and 



42 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

to exchange prisoners. ** Peace cannot be made with 
all the tribes till a large white paper be written and 
signed by the President and the hands of the chiefs. 
Will your chiefs go with me now to see the Amer- 
ican President?" They were also assured that the 
President would be very happy to see them and 
would make them presents of handsome guns, coats, 
etc. But objections and murmurings from the In- 
dians now ensued, and Colonel Dodge concluded to 
close the council and to wait for the morrow. 

We-ter-ra-shah-ro, an old chief of seventy years, 
with two other principal men met Colonel Dodge at 
his tent the next morning for a further "talk". The 
four leaders of the bands that had accompanied the 
dragoons from Fort Gibson were also present and 
participated in the council. Colonel Dodge once 
more urged that a few of the chiefs accompany him 
back to Fort Gibson : it was a plea for peace from a 
man who had grown gray in Indian warfare. Fol- 
lowing further deliberations and consultations, the 
old Chief We-ter-ra-shah-ro was the first to announce 
some willingness to go. "We wish much to make 
peace," he said, "with the Osages; we have been 
long at war with them; we wish to see the lands of 
the Creeks and Cherokees also, to shake hands with 
all." Then spoke Dutch, the Cherokee, a man of 
remarkable personal beauty, daring character, and 
reputation for his successful enterprises against the 
Osages. He assured Colonel Dodge that the Chero- 
kees and the whites were friends and that they could 
visit each other without fear. 



EXPEDITION TO THE PAWNEES 43 

Beatte, the leader of the Osage band, then made 
a speech. He was a Frenchman who had spent his 
life among the Osages and was widely known as a 
skilled hunter. ''We look at our friend (Colonel 
Dodge) as our father", he said. ''He is a true 
father to us all." He ended by urging that the 
chiefs visit the Osages with "our father as he 
wishes." Monpisha, another Osage, indorsed 
Beatte 's speech, declaring that the Indians should 
be taught to build homes and to raise cattle. ' ' Your 
buffalo will be gone in a few years", he warned. 
"Your great father, the President, will give you 
cattle, and teach you how to live without buffalo." 

George Bullett, the Delaware, then gave assur- 
ance of the friendship of his people, after which 
Colonel Dodge resumed his speech. He expressed 
his regret that some of the dragoon horses had 
broken into some of the cornfields, and he promised 
to pay for the damage done. "I wish you now to 
consider if some of you will go with me", he said to 
the chiefs on their departure. The chiefs then signi- 
fied their intention of going to their lodges to select 
some braves who should accompany Colonel Dodge 
to Fort Gibson. 

Many Camanches arrived during the day and 
visited the tent of Colonel Dodge, who then repeated 
his "talk" given in the morning. Ta-we-que-nah, 
one of the three newly arrived chiefs, was warm in 
his professions of friendship, and offered to ex- 
change a Spanish girl for the young Kiowa girl 
whom the dragoons had brought with them. But 



44 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Colonel Dodge wished to secure the friendship of 
the Kiowas and said to the chief: ''I mean to give 
her to her relations and friends without price ; I will 
give the girl to her tribe; they shall see how much 
their friends we are." 

But here occurred a dramatic interruption. 
Twenty or thirty mounted Kiowas suddenly dashed 
into the camp and almost into Colonel Dodge's tent. 
These Indians believed that the whites were in 
league with the hated Osages in holding the Kiowa 
girl as a prisoner. They were admirably equipped 
for flight or fight, and with their bows strung and 
their quivers filled with arrows they presented a bold 
and warlike appearance. The dragoons looked to 
their own arms, the squaws and children fled in 
terror, and a battle seemed in prospect. Colonel 
Dodge, however, quickly relieved the strain, ad- 
dressing them with assurances of friendship- and 
with the intimation that the Kiowa girl should be 
restored to her father and friends. A general coun- 
cil between the Camanche, Toyash, and Kiowa 
nations was to be held the next day. 

Not less than two thousand mounted and armed 
warriors surrounded the council where Colonel 
Dodge and his officers once more met the head men 
and chiefs of the various tribes. The Kiowas em- 
braced Colonel Dodge, and savage hearts were 
moved to emotions of gratitude over the restoration 
of their relative. The squaws with tearful eyes 
embraced the girl seated among the chiefs, at the 
same time showering their blessings upon her 
deliverer. 



EXPEDITION TO THE PAWNEES 45 

The council began and the pipe of peace was 
passed. There was seated a group of American 
officers in their bright uniforms and swords; the 
savage Toy ash looked at the arrogant and jealous 
Camanche; while the more chivalric and daring 
Kiowas made the fourth group of the council. Here 
bonds of friendship were pledged and promises of 
peace were made. Another band of sixty Kiowas 
now arrived, and when the ceremonies of their 
reception were ended Colonel Dodge made the 
formal surrender of the Kiowa girl. ''Kiowa 
chiefs!", he said, "I herewith present to you your 
relation; receive her as the best evidence of the 
sincere friendship of Americans." This closed the 
council at the Pawnee Pict village. 

On the next day the dragoons were to begin their 
return march; and early in the morning the chiefs 
of the three tribes visited Colonel Dodge, who pre- 
sented them with guns and pistols. Fifteen Kiowas, 
including their chief, one Camanche, three Pawnee 
chiefs, and We-ter-ra-shah-ro, the old Wacoah chief, 
had finally consented to return with Colonel Dodge 
to Fort Gibson. Thus on July 25th was begun the 
return march from the Pawnee Pict village. 

Over one hundred miles were marched in the first 
week of the return journey. "We are eagerly pur- 
suing our way home", writes the journalist of 
Company I, "with our Indian Ambassadors who 
seem remarkably jovial & delighted with every thing 
they see[.] Nightly they amuse us with their wild 
unintelligible & unaccountable songs which are far 



46 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

from being displeasing as they all join in seemingly 
endeavoring to exceed each other in noise, alto- 
gether creating a compound of the most unearthly 
discord ' '.^^ 

The overpowering heat and the number of sick 
greatly retarded the speed of Colonel Dodge's dra- 
goons. By July 29th they had reached the buffalo 
range, and one or two deer were killed, while one 
man killed a panther.*^'* ''At twelve o'clock the cry 
of buffalo was heard," records Lieutenant Wheelock 
on the same day, ' ' and never was the cheering sound 
of land better welcomed by wearied mariners, than 
this by our hungry columns. The command was 
halted, and some went together; the report of 
Beatte's rifle, and the fall of a fat cow; halted at 4 
o'clock, killed two more buffaloes." 

Colonel Dodge finally decided to return at once 
to Fort Gibson instead of marching to Fort Leaven- 
worth. Now and then a day of rest would be ordered 
for the jaded horses; not unfrequently men were 
lost in hunting buffalo ; prairie fires broke out ; and 
on August 5th Colonel Dodge was informed of the 
death of General Leavenworth and Lieutenant 
George W. McClure on the Washita River.®^ The 
last herd of buffalo was seen on that day, and "L", 
the chronicler of Company I, records that ''we were 
called upon to look our last look upon about 500 of 
these welcome Prairie Companions ".°® 

It was a warm and weary command that thank- 
fully returned to Fort Gibson on August 15, 1834, 
after a campaign of just two months. The horses 



EXPEDITION TO THE PAWNEES 47 

presented a jaded appearance and not more than ten 
were in good condition; many of the soldiers' uni- 
forms were tattered and torn and showed evidences 
of strenuous service. On August 24th Colonel 
Kearny's command arrived, bringing its tired dra- 
goons, its litters of sick, and its gaunt, worn horses.*''^ 

Unable to induce the chiefs to go to Washington, 
Colonel Dodge arranged for another grand council 
at Fort Gibson on September 1, 1834. Seven or 
eight tribes assembled, and for four days the fumes 
of the peace-making calumet drifted about the coun- 
cil. Choctaws, Cherokees, Osages, Kiowas, Senecas, 
Pawnees, Camanches, representing extreme types of 
Indian savages, met in friendly conclave under the 
protection of Colonel Dodge who believed that he 
had laid the foundation of lasting friendship between 
these frontier tribes.^^ 

''Perhaps their never has been in America a cam- 
paign that operated More Severely on Men & 
Horses", wrote Colonel Dodge to George W. Jones. 
"The excessive Heat of the Sun exceeded any thing 
I ever experienced [.] I marched from Fort Gibson 
with 500 Men and when I reached the Pawnee Pict 
Village I had not more than 190 Men fit for duty 
they were all left behind sick or were attending on 
the Sick the Heat of the Weather operated Severely 
on the Dragoon Horses there was at Least 100 
Horses that was Killed or Broke down by the exces- 
sive Heat of the Weather the Men were taken with 
fever and I was obledged to Carry Some of my Men 
in Litters for Several Hundred Miles ".^^ 



48 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Thus a number of great Indian tribes were 
brought into a general peace and into an acquaint- 
ance with and respect for the United States govern- 
ment.'*^ Besides the cost in money, much sickness 
and hardship had been endured and more than one 
hundred dragoons had lost their lives. Warm praise 
was extended to Colonel Dodge by Lewis Cass, the 
Secretary of War;"^ and George Catlin was well 
qualified to praise when he said : ' ' Thus was dragged 
through and completed this most disastrous cam- 
paign; and to Colonel Dodge and Colonel Kearney, 
who so indefatigably led and encouraged their men 
through it, too much praise cannot be awarded. "'^^ 



V 



COLONEL KEARNY ON THE RIVER DES 
MOINES 

Only a brief rest was allowed the dragoons after 
their fatiguing expedition to the Pawnee Pict vil- 
lage: again on September 3, 1834, three companies 
aggregating one hundred and thirteen men and com- 
manded by Lieutenant Colonel Kearny set out from 
Fort Gibson. An order of the previous May from 
the War Department had directed companies B 
under Captain Sumner, H under Captain Boone, and 
I under Captain Jesse B. Browne to take up their 
winter quarters *'on the right bank of the Missis- 
sippi, within the Indian country near the mouth of 
the Desmoines." Lieutenant George H. Crosman of 
the Sixth Infantry was detailed as quartermaster^^ 
On the second day of the journey several of the 
troopers became sick and Captain Browne became 
too ill to proceed. Soon they arrived at an Osage 
mission where several Indian families resided. 
These ''subsist principally on fish & the chase with 
a few vegitables they raise themselves in poorly 
cultivated fields or rather patches". A dragoon in 
his journal recorded that they are *'a filthy race but 
naturally of a robust constitution."'^^ 

.^ 49 



50 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Daily advances averaging about twenty miles 
were made during the three weeks march. Prairies, 
oak barrens, good timber, and thickly settled areas 
were traversed in turn during the journey across the 
State of Missouri. The dusty atmosphere of Sep- 
tember 13th was cleared a few days later by a heavy 
rain which saturated the ground. The Missouri 
River was crossed at Boonville on September 19th, 
and the dragoons observed a country covered with 
farm houses and plantations. Six days later after 
steady advances the command arrived at the mouth 
of the Des Moines River. 

The site designated for the encampment could 
boast of a long-established reputation. Sixty-five 
years before it had become Spanish territory, and in 
1799 Louis Honore or Tesson had been granted by 
the Spanish a tract embracing the area. For about 
six years Honore lived upon his grant : a cabin was 
set up, some ground was cultivated, and an apple 
orchard of perhaps ten or fifteen acres was planted. 
Here it is likely that a brisk trade with the Sac and 
Fox Indians was begun in furs and peltries, and that 
boats would land to bring news and supplies from 
the Spanish city of St. Louis. About the year 1832 
James White entered upon the land, fenced in an 
area of about seven acres, and built a double log 
cabin about thirty rods from the river.^^ 

Colonel Kearny was disappointed because of the 
lack of quarters for his travel-worn horses and 
troops. ' ' The quarters for the officers and soldiers, ' ' 
he reported with some impatience on the day after 



ON THE RIVER DES MOINES 51 

his arrival, ''are not as far advanced as I had ex- 
pected and not a log is yet laid for stables for our 
horses. We shall on the 28th go to work with all 
our disposable forces, and I hope by the close of 
next month we may complete the buildings, tho' they 
will be less comfortable and of meaner appearance, 
than those occupied by any other portion of the 
Army." The Colonel also requested that he be in- 
formed as to ''what is required of this command, 
while stationed here".'^^ 

But the quartermaster was already erecting 
buildings close to where now lies the quiet village of 
Montrose, Iowa. James White's ground had been 
purchased for six hundred dollars and his cabin was 
converted into a hospital. ^^ Soon the troops armed 
with saws, axes, planes, and hammers were at work 
upon the logs and upon the lumber brought by boat 
from Pittsburgh. The officers' quarters were near 
the river, while the soldiers' barracks forming a 
double L ran toward the river and left a beautiful 
area in the center. 

Tents were in the meanwhile sheltering the 
troops. The construction of the quarters was in 
charge of Lieutenant Benj. S. Roberts, the acting 
commissary of the post, a young officer fresh from 
West Point. One row of barracks was just ready 
for the roof when the little lieutenant discovered that 
there were no doors in the barracks. Orders were 
given to tear down the structures and to cut out the 
doors. In vain the dragoons remonstrated and ex- 
plained that notches had been cut in the logs and 



52 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

that the doors would be cut out with a cross saw 
when the roof was completed. But the tearing down 
commenced and it was only the order of Captain 
Browne which prevented the directions of the short- 
sighted lieutenant from being fully carried out.'^^ 

The winter of 1834-1835 was bitterly cold. ''I 
chinked my cabin," wrote one dragoon, ''put down 
a second hand carpet brought from St. Louis, [and] 
daubed and banked my private stable. "'^^ Colonel 
Kearny's letters complained about the uncomfort- 
able quarters and the inadequate supplies. They 
recited the sufferings of the soldiers stationed in the 
wintry wilderness of what is now southeastern 
Iowa. Captain Boone rejoined his company and 
Lieutenant Burgwin succeeded Crosman in the ad- 
ministrative duties at the post. Lieutenant Colonel 
Kearny likewise urged that a name be given to the 
fort which had been referred to as "the Detachment 
Headquarters of the Eegiment of Dragoons at Camp 
Des Moines, Michigan Territory. ' ' Accordingly not 
long afterward Secretary Cass designated the name 
of ''Fort Des Moines ".«« 

In the meantime Captain Sumner had been enlist- 
ing dragoons in Pennsylvania; while early in 1835 
Lieutenant Lea repaired to Fort Gibson and returned 
with about seventy dragoons, which increased 
the force at the post to one hundred and fifty- 
seven.^^ In the spring Colonel Kearny received 
orders for the summer campaign, which was intended 
as a means of discipline and instruction for the 
soldiers who were no doubt weary of barrack duties. 



ON THE RIVER DES MOINES 53 

Three companies were to proceed up the Eiver Des 
Moines to the Raccoon Fork, to halt there, and to 
examine the site with a view to the erection of a 
military post in that vicinity. A full report upon 
this subject was to be made by the Colonel upon his 
return to Fort Des Moines. "After having made 
this reconnoissance Lieut. Colonel Kearny will pro- 
ceed with his command to the Sioux Villages near 
the highlands of the Mississippi about the 44° of 
North Latitude, thence taking a direction to the 
westward return to his original position at the 
mouth of the Des Moines, passing by the right bank 
of that river. "^^ 

Soon the quiet camp became a scene of hurried 
activity as men, horses, mules, cattle, provisions, and 
tents were prepared for the eleven hundred mile 
expedition. Company B was commanded by Lieu- 
tenant Turner, but Lieutenant Burgwin with a small 
force was directed to remain at the post and to pro- 
vide forage for the ensuing winter. On June 7th the 
detachment began its march. Fortunately the his- 
torian of Company I again kept brief daily notes of 
the movements of the dragoons.^^ 

After advancing about fifty miles during the first 
week the force encamped near Keokuk's village — a 
point now marked by the town of Agency in Wapello 
County. The handsome prairies were sodden with 
the June rains, which with the wind and hail storms 
retarded the progress of the troops. The soldiers 
were in remarkably good health, although on the 
fifth day Captain Browne because of his illness was 



54 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

left behind. He was succeeded by Lieutenant Albert 
M. Lea. At the Indian town six or seven braves were 
secured to accompany the command and Frank 
Labashure, a brilliant but dissolute half-breed, was 
induced to serve as an interpreter. 

''Marched 16 miles over a marshy Prairie", runs 
the journal entry for June 15th. ''Encamped on a 
dry piece of land but at night had a hard storm of 
rain and wind accompanied with much thunder & 
lightning. We left opponuse or Iway town 6 miles 
to our left[.] Col. Kearney is very mild and the 
command in good health and spirits. So much rain 
renders marching unpleasant we have to encamp 
each night in mud & water but still I am better con- 
tented than when in quarters. ' ' 

As mile after mile was travelled over what is 
now central Iowa the dragoons could not be insen- 
sible to the beauties of a prodigal nature. The silent 
undulating prairies, as yet undisturbed by the 
farmer's plow or even by the stakes and chains of 
government surveyors, stretched to the horizon on 
every side. The tangled, matted grass interspersed 
with many flowers now and then disclosed the 
charred remains of old vegetation which had been 
set ablaze by Indians. The June sun was reddening 
the strawberries and for mile after mile they offered, 
not to the eye alone, a welcome feast. Rivers and 
creeks skirted by shadowing timber and an occa- 
sional grove broke the monotony of plain. Deer in 
abundance furnished game for the Indian hunters, 
while large numbers of turkeys, grouse, ducks, and 



ON THE RIVER DES MOINES 55 

prairie chickens rose in alarm and took sudden flight 
before this unwelcome invasion of the United States 
dragoons.^"* 

Failing to strike the Raccoon Fork of the Des 
Moines River, Colonel Kearny decided to march in a 
due course to Wabasha's village. The drenching 
rains had left water four or five feet deep, through 
which the men drew the wagon and led the horses. 
''Last night", noted the dragoon^^ on June 23rd, 
"was issued our last pork so that we must depend 
upon the chase & Beef for a supply (of which there 
is plenty) [.] Our salt and sugar are nearly ex- 
hausted but as yet we have plenty of flour". 

Steady marching in a northeasterly direction 
during the last week of June carried the force into 
the present State of Minnesota. Day after day the 
cavalcade filed over the prairies now dotted with 
cities and homes. With much difficulty they forded 
numerous rivers and streams. The discovery of an 
old Sioux fort containing twenty or thirty dug-outs 
added interest to the anticipated meeting with that 
tribe. But the sight of a herd of buffalo on June 
24th gave a thrill of excitement to many of the new 
recruits who had never seen this lord of the plains. 
At once the quiet march was interrupted by the 
jingling of spurs, the eager shouts of the men, and 
the trampling of buffalo and horses' hoofs over the 
prairie. The chase continued until five or six buffalo 
had been slain — the chronicler noting with satis- 
faction that "this day was spent in eating Buffalo 
beef & sleep". On the next day a hunter killed an 



56 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

elk which was a welcome addition to the soldiers' 
mess. Three days later (near the present city of 
Osage) another successful buffalo hunt was enjoyed 
and after some difficulty 0. H. P. Miller, a dragoon 
from Virginia, captured a buffalo calf, which became 
an object of curiosity in the dragoon camp. 

The northeasterly advance carried the little de- 
tachment through picturesque scenes. Oak barrens, 
the abundance of wood and water, high hills, deep 
valleys, cascades, and gushing springs provoked 
expressions of admiration from the usually brief pen 
of the dragoon Avriter. Deserted wigwams and 
patches of abandoned corn and pumpkins were signs 
of former Sioux habitations. When near the Missis- 
sippi he wrote : "I ascended one of the highest peaks, 
more than 1000 feet above the bed of the stream 
below. Far in the Horizon I could discern the broad 
waters of the Mississippi & Lake pepin spotted with 
here and there an Indian Canoe which from the 
eminence appeared like dots upon a mirror." 

Nearly two weeks were spent in the vicinity of 
Wabasha's village near the present city of Winona 
in Minnesota. Soon a brisk trade in sutler's goods 
was conducted by Sergeant J. C. Parrott with the 
Sioux, who were described as "mostly a dirty 
thieving race living in the most abominably filthy 
manner." On July 19th Wabasha, attended by 
numerous followers who gazed in wonderment upon 
the well-equipped horses and the uniforms of the 
dragoons, visited the camp and concluded a treaty 
with Lieutenant Colonel Kearny. 



ON THE RIVER DES MOINES 57 

The return toward the Raccoon Fork of the Des 
Moines was begun on July 21st in a due west course. 
In the present county of Freeborn in Minnesota a 
council was called to discuss plans for getting out of 
that almost impassable lake region. "In the mean- 
time the men are taking their rest in the shade their 
horses grazing beside them. . . . The land about 
here is good. Grass & herbage of all kinds in the 
highest natural state. Grass 8 ft high. One of our 
Indians killed a grey Eagle on the lake shore. Signs 
of Beaver, Muskrat and otter. . . . Saw several 
handsome lakes & some of the most beautiful small 
Prairies I have seen since I have been in the West. 
I have seen some romantick and handsome land- 
scapes but this far surpasses any country I have ever 
seen both for beauty & fertility". 

A forced march of 35 miles on July 31st through 
what is now Kossuth County, Iowa, brought to view 
a region without wood or good water. ''We are 
wandering about like half-starved wolves & no per- 
son appears to know in what direction we ought to 
steer. Much murmering by the men. Very cold for 
the season." In swift and steady movements during 
the next eight days Lieutenant Colonel Kearny ad- 
vanced nearly two hundred miles, encamping on 
August 8, 1835, at the Raccoon Fork. There near a 
bubbling spring and a spongy meadow Lieutenant 
Lea and two brother officers could well enjoy the 
landscape as they feasted on a fat young buck and a 
flask of fine old French brandy.^ *^ And as they 
looked about no clouds of smoke marred the scenery 



58 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

and no gilded dome rose above the eastern horizon. 
Lieutenant Colonel Kearny and his officers rode 
over a considerable portion of the site and the coun- 
try which surrounded it. The point of land between 
the two streams near their junction was about eight 
feet above water mark and widened out as the 
rivers receded. The Des Moines River was found to 
be one hundred and twenty yards wide and easily 
fordable. On the east side of the river there was 
an abundance of timber, such as oak, walnut, elm, 
ash, linn, and Cottonwood, which was suitable for 
firewood and building material. From Lieutenant 
Lea's observations it appeared that the site was one 
hundred and fifty miles from the mouth of the Des 
Moines Eiver by land and two hundred and sixty-six 
by water. ^^ 

The location was regarded by the Colonel as 
neither suitable nor advantageous for the erection of 
a military post. The navigation of the Des Moines 
River by boats large enough to carry military stores 
was at all times uncertain; the Sacs and the Sioux 
were peaceful and the establishment of a barrier 
between them was unnecessary; the upper fork of 
the Des Moines River would afford a more strategic 
location should such a barrier be needed ; and finally 
the Sacs were decidedly opposed to the erection of a 
post at the Raccoon River, "giving as one of their 
objections, that the Whites would drive off the little 
game that is left in their country." 

The homeward march from this point to the fort 
was without special event. Lieutenant Lea with one 



ON THE RIVER DES MOINES 59 

dragoon and an Indian descended the Des Moines 
Kiver in a Cottonwood canoe, estimating distances, 
examining the geology of the banks, sounding shoals, 
making sketches, and enduring the gnats and mos- 
quitoes.^® The dragoons following the right bank of 
the river arrived at the fort on the afternoon of 
August 19th after an absence of over ten weeks, and 
without the loss of any tool, wagon, horse, or man. 
"Sickness and all Disease", concluded the dragoon 
writer, "has been a stranger to the camp .... 
& upon the whole I can say we have had a pleasant 
Campaign". 

A winter full of monotonous barrack life and 
drills followed; nor is it surprising that there was 
much card-playing after pay day. Drinking was 
considerable ; and at least one dragoon captain from 
Kentucky was not a stranger to the grog-shops in 
Fort Madison.®^ It is not difficult to imagine that 
soldiers often loitered at the boat landing near the 
rapids. Keel-boats and steamers bound for the 
Galena lead mines, Prairie du Chien, and even the 
Falls of St. Anthony discharged their heavy freight 
to and from small boats in order to pass over the 
rapids. These craft landing supplies for the gar- 
rison likewise brought news from the outside world 
and letters from distant homes. ^^ 

"I landed at Fort des Moines [in 1835] only for 
a few minutes," described a steamboat passenger 
from England, "and had but just time to remark 
the pale and sickly countenances of such soldiers as 
were loitering about the beach ; indeed, I was told by 



60 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

a young man who was sutler at this post that when 
he had left it a few weeks before, there was only one 
officer on duty out of seven or eight, who were sta- 
tioned there. The number of desertions from this 
post was said to be greater than from any other in 
the United States. "^^ The observer expressed sur- 
prise, in view of the facilities for escape and the lax 
punishment for desertions, that the ranks did not 
become even thinner than they were. 

Some pleasant social life was provided by the 
few ladies at the post. An interesting event was the 
visit of Colonel Zachary Taylor, of soldierly bearing 
but of slovenly and careless appearance in his sky- 
blue trousers and cow-hide boots. Brightly dressed 
young soldiers would sometimes cross the river to 
Commerce where James White had a hospitable 
stone house and pretty daughters. And here with 
partners on a smooth floor and amid the strains of 
tortured cat-gut, the young soldiers forgot the irk- 
some duties of barrack life at Fort Des Moines. ^^ 

Colonel George Croghan, who visited the post on 
December 3, 1835, found a force aggregating one 
hundred and eighty-four men and a total of two 
hundred and five horses and mules. The roofs of 
some of the buildings were leaky, the health of the 
garrison was unnecessarily bad, and the hospital 
facilities were very inadequate. In the following 
July it appears that Colonel Dodge resigned his 
command and was succeeded by Lieutenant Colonel 
Kearny who repaired to Fort Leavenworth. The 
command of Fort Des Moines was then given to 



ON THE RIVER DES MOINES 61 

Captain Sumner until Major Richard B. Mason, who 
was to succeed Kearny, should arrive at the post.^^ 

Another summer campaign was expected ; accord- 
ingly, on June 6, 1836, a detachment of about one 
hundred men under Captain Sumner started for 
Fort Howard on Green Bay, far to the northeast. 
This destination had been decided upon partially by 
rumors of Indian hostility in that region. The over- 
land march across Illinois led them through Peoria, 
and as they approached the village a trooper sound- 
ed a few notes on his bugle. ''In a few moments", 
wrote an observer, "a lengthened troop of cavalry, 
with baggage-cars and military paraphernalia, was 
beheld winding over a distant roll of the prairie, 
their arms glittering gayly in the horizontal beams 
of the sinking sun as the ranks appeared, were lost, 
reappeared, and then, by an inequality of the route, 
were concealed from the view. "^* 

The white tents were pitched on a low prairie 
bottom; arms and military accoutrements were 
stacked up or suspended on the branches of trees; 
while the troops, after picketing the horses to graze, 
engaged in the culinary operations of the camp or 
lounged upon the grass as the laugh and jests went 
free. "Captain S ", recorded a visitor, "re- 
ceived us leisurely reclining upon a buffalo robe in 
his tent; and, in a brief interview, we found him 
possessed of all that gentlemanly naivete which for- 
eign travellers would have us believe is, in our 
country, confined to the profession of arms."^^ 

At Chicago they found a city of about six thou- 



i^ 



62 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

sand people. Veering toward the north the com- 
mand came to the thriving beginnings of Milwaukee. 
Advancing to Green Bay they ascended the Fox 
River, and later visited the garrison at Fort Craw- 
ford. After touching at Galena and at Rock Island 
the dragoons returned to the fort where they were 
given a sumptuous feast by the rest of the garrison.^® 

Henceforth the story of this post is concerned 
with its gradual abandonment.^^ Designed as a 
temporary camp, the fort had been maintained 
mainly because of the irresolution and delay of the 
military authorities. On September 18, 1836, Lieu- 
tenant Colonel Mason reported that speculators were 
encroaching upon the lands of the garrison, laying 
out a town, and selling lots. Other parties were 
erecting buildings and planning to sell whiskey to 
the Indians and to the soldiers. Orders from the 
War Department a month later directed the immedi- 
ate evacuation of the post and on October 30th 
Captain Sumner with Company B departed for Fort 
Leavenworth. 

It was a feeble garrison that remained during 
the winter. Many of the soldiers had been stricken 
with intermittent fever, and in the spring fleas 
invaded the camp.^® Of the seventy-six men remain- 
ing the terms of enlistment of fifty-eight would 
expire during the winter or the ensuing spring. 
''The post is this day abandoned," wrote Lieutenant 
Colonel Mason on June 1, 1837, ''and the squadron 
takes up its march for Fort Leavenworth. It has 
been delayed until this date in order that the grass 



ON THE RIVER DES MOINES 63 

might be sufficiently high to afford grazing for the 
horses, as corn cannot be had on some parts of the 
route." And so about eighteen dragoons, the rem- 
nants of companies H and I, bade a last, and perhaps 
hearty farewell to the hardships and joys of this 
rather inglorious western post. 



VI 



PRAIRIE TRAVELS TO THE ROCKY 
MOUNTAINS 9^ 

A MAECH of sixteen hundred miles through the 
regions now contained in the States of Nebraska, 
Colorado, and Kansas was the military achievement 
of the First United States Dragoons in 1835. This 
tour through a continuous wilderness of alternate 
prairie and woodland was the eleventh mounted 
expedition of Colonel Henry Dodge and the last time 
that he led a dragoon march. His troops moved 
along the Platte and far to the west along the South 
Platte, returning down the valley of the Arkansas 
and over a portion of the Santa Pe road. In these 
months of exploring the dragoons held talks and 
councils with numerous Indian bands and tribes of 
the plains. 

Agreeably to an order of March 9, 1835, the 
detachment of dragoons under Colonel Dodge left 
Fort Leavenworth on the 29th of the next May. 
Company A with forty men was commanded by 
Captain Lan. P. Lupton; Company C of forty men 
was in charge of Captain Matthew Duncan; while 
the thirty-seven men of Company G were led by 
Captain Lemuel Ford. Lieutenant Enoch Steen was 

64 



TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 65 

in command of two swivels. Lieutenant G. P. Kings- 
bury was the journalist of the expedition; while 
Major Dougherty, Indian Agent, and Captain Gantt, 
an Indian trader, accompanied the force as inter- 
preters and guides. The three companies were 
directed to take sixty days' rations of flour and ten 
days' rations of pork; while twenty-five beeves and 
two wagon-loads of flour were to be taken by the 
assistant commissary of subsistence. 

One hundred miles were traversed in a north- 
westerly direction during the first week. The line of 
march lay across the reservation of the Kickapoos 
and then across the Nemaha River in what is now the 
State of Nebraska. ^^''^ Continuing, Colonel Dodge's 
command entered the lands of the half-breed Otoes 
and Omahas. On the 7th of June a large herd of elk 
was seen, but the hunters were not able to approach 
near enough to shoot them. The country was a 
beautiful and fertile plain, diversified with all the 
accidents of wood, creeks, and ravines. 

Two days later the command reached the valley 
of the Platte River and encamped on its banks only 
seven or eight miles from the Oto village. Jutan, 
the principal chief of this tribe, who came to meet 
the dragoons, had been a bold and successful war- 
rior. He is described by Lieutenant Kingsbury as a 
man ''about fifty years of age, tall, well made, with a 
fine and intelligent cast of countenance." On the 
next day the village of the Otoes was reached and 
the dragoons were given a joyous welcome. ^^^ 

Colonel Dodge (on June 11th) met the assembled 



66 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

chiefs and warriors at the lodge of Jutan, where a 
council was held. The Colonel informed the Indians 
that the President of the United States, ''your great 
father" wished them to be at peace and to raise corn 
and cattle for the support of their families. Deplor- 
ing the sale of whiskey to the Otoes, he said: ''All 
unlicensed traders found in your country will be 
taken and delivered to the civil authorities, to be 
dealt with according to the laws of the country." 
After a brief reply by Jutan, presents of blankets, 
strouding, knives, and tobacco were distributed 
among the warriors and chiefs. 

A week was spent here awaiting the arrival of a 
band of Omahas, with whom also Colonel Dodge 
wished to hold a council. These Indians, numbering 
about eighteen hundred, occupied the region between 
the Missouri and the Platte rivers. On the 17th of 
June about fifty of the principal chiefs and warriors 
swam the Platte River and arrived near the camp of 
the dragoons. After extending a welcome Colonel 
Dodge caused some provisions to be issued to them. 

When the Indians were assembled Colonel Dodge 
repeated the "talk" which he had made to the Otoes 
a few days before. Big Elk, the principal chief of 
the Omahas, replied in a friendly vein, but declared 
that the presents spread before them had been the 
cause of creating a great deal of evil in the Indian 
country. He was a man of sixty years, of sound 
practical common sense, and with a knowledge which 
convinced him that the Indians needed to learn some 
of the arts of civilization. 



TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 67 

The Pawnee village, in what is now Hamilton 
County, Nebraska, was the next objective point. 
For eighty miles the march continued up the Platte 
Kiver over a rich, alluvial, treeless plain which ap- 
peared to be the old bed of a river. Herds of 
antelope and deer varied the monotony of the scene. 
It was ten or fifteen miles from the village that 
Angry Man, the principal chief of the Grand 
Pawnees, met the dragoons. He at once tried to 
ingratiate himself into the good graces of Colonel 
Dodge with whom he had a long talk. 

Arriving at the Grand Pawnee village on the 21st 
of June, 1835, the dragoons were met by one hundred 
and fifty or two hundred Indians mounted on their 
best horses and dressed in their gayest costume. 
The Pawnees, having formed an extended line, ad- 
vanced with full speed and galloped around the 
detachment two or three times. The chiefs then 
advanced to Colonel Dodge, and the pipe of peace 
was passed around and smoked. Angry Man then 
invited Colonel Dodge, with a number of the dra- 
goons, to a feast in his lodge. There they were 
seated around the fire, and in strict accordance with 
Indian etiquette Colonel Dodge was given the high- 
est seat. After a meal of boiled corn was eaten the 
dragoons made a brief march and encamped on the 
bank of the Platte. 

The Pawnees at this time were divided into four 
tribes which lived in separate villages and had 
different chiefs. Angry Man was the chief of the 
Grand Pawnees. The chief of the Pawnee Eepublics 



68 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

was called Blue-coat ; the chief of the Pawnee Loups 
was Axe; while the head of the Pawnee Tappeiges 
was Little Chief. For years these tribes had been 
waging an intermittent war with the Sioux and had 
often returned with scalps and large numbers of 
horses. They occupied a rich and productive coun- 
try, well adapted to the raising of grain and to 
grazing. The buffalo, of which they killed large 
numbers, furnished their principal means of sub- 
sistence. "They are already impressed with a high 
opinion of the power of the United States," writes 
the dragoon journalist, *'and it will not be difficult 
for the government in a short time to exert a con- 
trolling influence over them." 

Colonel Dodge now declared his intention of 
holding a council with the different Pawnee tribes, 
and runners were at once despatched to inform the 
other villages of his arrival. Repairing with most 
of the dragoon officers to the lodge of Angry Man, 
Colonel Dodge addressed the assembled chiefs and 
warriors. He would be glad to make peace between 
them and their old enemies, the Arapahoes and the 
Cheyennes. The destructive effects of wars were 
pointed out, and it was urged that they devote them- 
selves to the cultivation of corn. ''Could you also 
learn to raise cattle," he suggested, ''you would be 
able to support yourselves and families without 
depending upon the uncertainty of the chase." 

To this advice highly rhetorical but rather 
friendly speeches were made in turn by the four 
Pawnee chiefs. "I thank you for treating these 



TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 69 

people so well", declared Angry Man. ''You could 
not have been blamed if you had been more severe. ' ' 
When the council broke up presents were distributed 
by Major Dougherty, and the Indians appeared well 
pleased in obtaining new blankets, strouding, knives, 
and tobacco. They even informed Colonel Dodge 
that they would send one of their principal men with 
him to assist him in making peace with the Chey- 
ennes and the Arapahoes. 

One hundred and twelve miles were covered in 
the next week. Marching up the Platte River along 
the south bank, the dragoons passed the head of 
Grand Island on June 29, 1835, where they were 
mustered and inspected. Two days later Captain 
Gantt set out to collect the Arickaras who were sup- 
posed to be near the forks of the Platte River. On 
the evening of July 4th the dragoons saw their first 
herd of buffalo. 

On the next day Captain Gantt returned bringing 
the chiefs and principal warriors of the Arickaras. 
''The Arickaras", writes Lieutenant Kingsbury, 
"are considered the wildest and most savage tribe 
of Indians west of the Mississippi, and have always 
been characterized by a want of faith in their prom- 
ises, and an inveterate hostility to the whites, killing 
all they could meet. They are at war with most of 
the surrounding nations, and large numbers of them 
are killed every year. They formerly lived on the 
Missouri River, but were driven from this country 
by the Sioux, with whom they had long been at war. 
. . . There are now about two thousand two 



70 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

hundred of them in all, numbers of them having 
lately been killed by their numerous enemies." 

Colonel Dodge's speech to the assembled Aric- 
karas was full of advice and warning. The evil 
effects of inter-tribal wars were again pointed out; 
the stealing of horses was denounced ; and they were 
reminded that several charges of murder were held 
against them. After the friendly nature and purpose 
of the dragoons' expedition had been explained, the 
Colonel delivered the greetings and the presents 
from the President of the United States. ''He is 
mild in peace", warned the dragoon colonel, "but 
terrible in war. . . . You see but few mounted 
men with me; it was not the wish of your great 
father to alarm you and other remote nations of 
Indians with the appearance of a large army which 
he could have sent here with as much ease as the few 
warriors you see with me. The cannon you see are 
small in comparison with the large guns that could 
be sent to this country." 

The chiefs replied briefly to this advice, and after 
extolling their past conduct expressed much friend- 
ship for the whites. One of the chiefs gave a 
hunting-shirt finely ornamented with beads to 
Colonel Dodge, who then distributed the usual 
presents among the Indians. On July 6, 1835, the 
council dispersed with many expressions of thanks 
and gratitude from the Arickaras. 

Steady marching occupied the dragoons for the 
next two weeks, during which they covered over two 
hundred and fifty miles up the south fork of the 



TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 71 

Platte River along its southern bank. "The ele- 
ments of the scene", writes the dragoon journalist, 
*'now were an unbounded prairie, a broad river, 
with innumerable herds of buffalo grazing upon its 
banks, and occasionally a solitary tree standing in 
bold relief against a clear blue sky." 

Dragoon mounts and the men were in excellent 
health as they filed past charming scenes. Great 
herds of buffalo pawed the short grass or moved 
over the prairie. Herds of deer, antelope, and wild 
horses quickly retreated before Colonel Dodge's 
cavalcade. On the banks of the river the troops 
gathered hois de vache and drift wood for fuel. On 
July 15th the soldiers enjoyed a bird's-eye view of 
the Rock}^ Mountains, which were hailed with joy by 
the whole command. 

Leaving the south fork of the Platte, whose 
banks the dragoons had hugged for many hundreds 
of miles, the command for the remainder of the 
month of July changed its course to a southerly 
direction.^^2 Immense herds of buffalo were again 
seen; timber became more abundant; several kinds 
of wild fruit were found ; and deer were numerous. 
On the 26th of July they crossed the dividing ridge 
between the waters of the Platte and the Arkansas. 
"The mountains were in the form of an immense 
fortification with turrets and rock-crowned battle- 
ments, and pine trees along the covered line relieved 
against a clear blue sky. The different passes be- 
tween the mountains appeared to be guarded by 
large terraced watch-towers." 



72 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

On July 30th Colonel Dodge's detachment 
camped upon the banks of the Arkansas Eiver. 
There he learned that fifty lodges of Arapahoes were 
encamped on the opposite side of the river and that 
the remainder of the nation with a large number of 
Cheyennes were hunting buffalo only about two 
days' ride distant. Two days later Captain Gantt 
left the command for the purpose of collecting these 
bands together. 

Sixty miles of marching up the Arkansas Eiver 
brought the dragoons to the fort of Bent and St. 
Vrain on the 6th of August, 1835. Here Messrs. 
Bent and St. Vrain carried on an extensive trade 
with the Indians in buffalo robes, knives, blankets, 
and tobacco. Two villages of Cheyennes were found 
near this fort. These Indians were very fond of 
whiskey and would sell their last possession to get a 
drink of it. ''In arranging the good things of this 
world in order of rank," writes Lieutenant Itings- 
bury, ' ' they say that whiskey should stand first, then 
tobacco, third guns, fourth horses, and fifth women." 

Captain Gantt on August 10th returned to camp 
bringing a number of Arapahoes, a few Gros Ven- 
tres, and two or three Blackfeet. On the next day 
Colonel Dodge held a council with a number of chiefs, 
warriors, and principal men who represented these 
tribes. The views and wishes of the government 
were then fully explained and once more the 
Colonel advised the Indians to smoke the pipe of 
peace, to observe treaties, and to stop their warfare 
against the whites. 



TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 73 

With the assistance of Colonel Dodge three chiefs 
were now selected for the three bands of Cheyennes 
present at the council. The Colonel then put around 
the neck of each of the chiefs a medal, which he 
assured the Cheyennes was the symbol of their new 
offices. Presents were next distributed according to 
the number of Indians in each nation ; and then the 
council adjourned with many expressions of grati- 
tude and good will for the dragoons and their 
commander. ^^^ 

Two days after this council the line of march was 
continued up the Arkansas River. On August 14, 
1835, the dragoons arrived at a Cheyenne village of 
about sixty skin lodges and held a council with the 
principal braves. The next morning the whole com- 
mand was aroused by sharp firing about half a mile 
distant. ''Supposing this firing to be an attack on 
the Cheyenne Indians", wrote Colonel Dodge, ''and 
that this band might ask protection from me, I in- 
stantly formed the Dragoons in order of battle, until 
I could be informed as to the cause of the firing." 

In a brief time, however, a band of about one 
hundred Pawnees and Arickaras arrived, explaining 
that they had fired their guns in order to prove their 
friendly disposition by approaching with empty 
guns. A council was then called and Colonel Dodge, 
the mutual friend of all three tribes, induced them to 
forget old scores and to become friends. The 
Pawnees and the Arickaras received more than a 
hundred horses as presents from the Cheyennes, 
who in turn were given fifty guns. "You will be 



74 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

convinced", ran the Colonel's parting advice, ''that 
your true interest is to hold each other strong by 
the hand as brothers and friends, and never again to 
stain your hands by the blood of each other." 

Although unfamiliar with the art of speech- 
making, the Cheyennes expressed a wish that 
Colonel Dodge tarry several days in order that they 
might hunt and bring him buffalo meat. * ' The good 
effects of the expedition", writes Lieutenant Kings- 
bury, ''are thus becoming apparent, and it will 
probably have the effect to establish peace among 
all the different tribes between the Arkansas and the 
Platte. This will be of immense advantage to these 
Indians, as they will thereby have an extensive 
country opened to them, covered with innumerable 
buffalo, where they can hunt in safety without the 
fear of being attacked by their enemies." 

Long daily marches down the Arkansas .were 
made in the next week across plains, and hills, buf- 
falo grass, and prickly pear.^^"* On the 21st of 
August, 1835, the detachment took the old Santa Fe 
trail where it crossed the Arkansas River. Lieuten- 
ant Kingsbury's journal is hurried, as are the 
dragoon advances over the high barren prairie. No 
wood could be found and the soldiers cooked their 
food over the hot fires of buffalo dung. Arriving at 
the Pawnee Fork the command halted for a day in 
order to kill buffalo to provision them to Fort 
Leavenworth. The horses were made to swim the 
swollen stream, while the baggage was transported 
across in buffalo skins. 



TO THE ROCKY MOUNTAINS 75 

For forty or fifty miles the line of march bore 
down the Arkansas River. Late in August the 
course of march veered to the north. Forced 
marches were the only incidents of note during the 
next week. "Continued the march", concludes 
Lieutenant Kingsbury's narrative of this expedi- 
tion. "Crossed the Hundred-and-ten mile creek, 
and entered upon the dividing ridge between the 
Kansas and Osage rivers; passed Round and Elm 
Groves, and arrived at the crossing of the Kansas, 
at Dunlap's Ferry, on the 15th; crossed the river 
and on the 16th arrived at Fort Leavenworth." 

High praise was accorded to the whole command 
for the success of the expedition, which Brigadier 
General Edmund P. Gaines regarded as extraordi- 
nary and unprecedented. The general urged that 
"a sword [be] given to Colonel Dodge, a brace of 
pistols to each one of his commissioned officers, and 
a month's extra pay to each one of the non-commis- 
sioned officers and soldiers who accompanied him". 
He believed that the Indian tribes had been judi- 
ciously impressed with the justice, magnanimity, 
humanity, and power of the government, with no 
loss of life except that of one dragoon. ^°^ This suc- 
cess Gaines believed to be due to the "very great 
vigilance, care, and prudence, on the part of the 
colonel and his officers, and constant attention, 
obedience, and fidelity on the part of the non-com- 
missioned officers and soldiers." 



VII 

THE WESTERN MILITARY FRONTIER 

1837-1840 

Foe the four years beginning in 1837 the activities 
of the First Regiment of Dragoons are interwoven 
•J with the laying out of a western zone for Indian 
occupation and the improvement of a western fron- 
tier line of military defense. These tasks were not 
new, for both had been performed in the older 
States; and the Indian had been anvil rather than 
hammer during the years when the steady forces of 
settlement drove the tribes westward. 

The removal of the Indians to the Louisiana Pur- 
chase had been a policy of the government since 
Secretary of War Calhoun's report in 1825. The 
treaties at Prairie du Chien in 1825 and 1830, and 
the Black Hawk Purchase treaty of 1832, are epochal 
in the readjustment of the Indian f rentiers. ^"^"^ 
Gradually the pressure of population had forced the 
Indian from the northern and southern areas of 
occupation until an irregular but shifting line from 
north to south marked the boundary between the 
two races. 

A glance at the location and number of Indians 
for 1837 reveals the magnitude of this policy of 

76 



THE WESTERN MILITARY FRONTIER 77 

removal. East of the Mississippi there were 49,365 
Indians of whom 36,950 were under treaty stipula- 
tions to remove to the west of the river. The num- 
ber in the indigenous tribes within striking distance 
of the western frontier was 231,806. The Indians 
who had emigrated from the east to the west of the 
Mississippi totalled 51,327. Among these 332,498 
Indians, it was estimated, there was a total fighting 
strength of 66,499 warriors.^" ^ A map for this year 
shows an irregular zone of Indian lands to the west 
of the Mississippi. North of the Red River are 
shown in order the Choctaws, Seminoles, Creeks, 
Cherokees, and Osages. Farther northward were 
the Shawnees, Kansas, Delawares, Kickapoos, Iowa, 
Otoes, Omahas, Pawnees, and Potawatomi. But 
toward the east of this belt of occupation there were 
still huge peninsulas and islands of Indian lands, 
the title to which was being gradually extin- 
guished.^"* The record of this policy of removal is 
an epitome of the story of the Indian, the soldier, 
the surveyor, and the settler. 

To these numbers the weakness of the military 
protection for the westward-moving settlements in 
1837 stood in marked contrast. A thin line of posts 
extended from Fort Snelling on the Mississippi to 
Camp Sabine in Louisiana. About eighteen hundred 
troops, including six hundred and twenty-six dra- 
goons, and shifting from one post to another, per- 
formed field and garrison duties and constituted the 
only Federal force. But before the close of 1837 the 
removal of four garrisons left only eight establish- 
ments with any troops. ^^^ 



78 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Year after year military authorities had pointed 
out the weakness of this frontier force and had 
urged that it be strengthened. A rather elaborate 
plan for a stronger western military frontier was 
presented late in 1837.^^*^ This contemplated a line 
of exterior posts projected into the Indian country 
beyond the existing cessions for the purpose of re- 
pressing or overawing intertribal hostilities or 
uprisings against the settlements. Likewise an 
interior line of posts was considered which might 
furnish places of refuge during special danger or 
alarms and depots for arms and supplies. Efforts 
to realize the execution of this plan constitute a 
considerable part of the history of the western mili- 
tary frontier for the next four years. 

Colonel Kearny had also urged that the limits of 
the western frontier should be definitely settled. He 
suggested that there should be one regiment of 
infantry or artillery and one of dragoons for the 
frontier between the Mississippi and the Missouri 
rivers. An equal force should protect the frontier 
between the Missouri and the Osage rivers ; and two 
regiments of infantry or artillery and one of dra- 
goons should be placed between the Osage and Red 
rivers. Such a force for a frontier of a thousand 
miles he regarded as a reasonable estimate.^^^ 

Owing to desertions and the expirations of en- 
listments the regiment of dragoons seldom possessed 
its full quota of men. Captain Sumner was usually 
detailed upon recruiting service at Carlisle, Penn- 
sylvania, and there new men were secured to fill the 



THE WESTERN MILITARY FRONTIER 79 

ever-recurring vacancies in the dragoon ranks. In 
1838 six companies under Colonel Kearny were 
stationed at Fort Leavenworth, and four companies 
were quartered at Fort Gibson under General 
Arbuckle. Fort Smith was occupied by a garrison 
in July, 1838 ; but Fort Coffee, likewise in Arkansas, 
was abandoned a few months later.^^^ 

Additional forts, urged the Secretary of War in 
1838,^^3 should be constructed on the western fron- 
tier, the existing posts should be enlarged and 
strengthened, and all stations should then be con- 
nected by military roads perpendicular to the line 
of defense. Jefferson Barracks could be made a 
center around which the militia of the various States 
might rally. "The sparse population of the West- 
ern frontier," continued Secretary Poinsett, "and 
the number, character, and proximity of the enemy 
we have to guard against in that quarter, will re- 
quire that the garrisons of the several posts should 
be stronger than on the maritime or Northern and 
Eastern frontiers." 

But few field movements seem to have been made 
by the dragoons in 1838. Early in that year Colonel 
Kearny left Fort Leavenworth and steamed up the 
Missouri Eiver with a force of dragoons on board 
the "Antelope". Alarmed, perhaps, by rumors of 
inter-tribal hostilities. Colonel Kearny set to work 
erecting barracks and a block-house twenty-four 
feet square. This rude encampment was known as 
"Camp Kearney near Council Bluffs", but was soon 
transferred to the Jesuits for their missionary head- 
quarters among the Potawatomi.^^* 



80 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Later in the year other rumors of Indian councils 
and uprisings among the Cherokees near Fort 
Gibson induced General Gaines to set in motion a 
force of about 10,000 men.^^^ The militia was sum- 
moned and soon the troops from Fort Leavenworth 
and Jefferson Barracks were on their way to the 
scene of an anticipated Indian war. ''But being 
informed, while on the way thither, that the object 
of the meeting was of a pacific character, he ordered 
the troops back to their stations." 

Surveys for a military road on the western fron- 
tier were begun this year. The northern section ran 
from Fort Snelling to Fort Leavenworth; on the 
middle section, extending from that point to Fort 
Smith, construction work had begun; while the 
southern and shortest section connected Fort Tow- 
son and Fort Smith. At the latter station work had 
been delayed by the high waters of the Arkansas 
Eiver, but at Fort Leavenworth the quarters had 
been repaired and enlarged and stables had been 
erected for the dragoon horses. ^^"^ 

Work on the military roads continued in 1839, 
and in March of that year Congress appropriated 
over $52,000 for the "surveying and opening of the 
western frontier military road."^^^ The southern 
section, about one hundred and forty miles in length,, 
was completed that year and Captain Joseph Bonnell 
with fourteen oxen traversed its entire length in 
April and May in eight and one-half days. The 
route was diversified by severe ascents, pretty 
prairies, and steep hills.^^^ Seventy-two miles of 



THE WESTERN MILITARY FRONTIER 81 

the middle section were completed and about two 
hundred miles were left for future construction. 
But upon the road from Fort Leavenworth to Fort 
Snelling, advised the quartermaster general, neither 
money nor labor should be expended because the 
whole country was an open prairie that could easily 
be travelled in all directions. ^^'^ 

But little progress was made on the barracks at 
Fort Smith and at Fort Leavenworth, although a 
considerable sum was appropriated for work on the 
western frontier for that year. A force of dragoons 
under Lieutenant Colonel Mason was sent to com- 
mence the erection of Fort Wayne — a new post 
on Illinois Creek about half way between Fort 
Gibson and Fort Smith. Four additional posts 
should be established, urged the quartermaster 
general. ''The effect of those works, with the fre- 
quent movement of bodies of mounted men on the 
road between them, would be to intimidate the In- 
dians inclined to become hostile, and inspire those 
disposed to be friendly, as well as our own citizens, 
with confidence. Should war occur, they would con- 
stitute the proper base of operations, each post 
forming a rallying point for the militia and volun- 
teers in its rear, and for such friendly Indians as 
might be disposed to join our standard. "^^^ 

Field campaigns this year gave several com- 
panies of the dragoons relief from their garrison 
duties. Two squadrons furnished in the spring an 
escort to a caravan of traders bound for Santa Fe. 
Later in the year five companies of dragoons were 



82 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

sent from Fort Leavenworth to Fort Gibson, where 
rumors of Cherokee uprisings against the settlers 
had been persistent. In July a company of dragoons 
journeyed from Fort Leavenworth to Bellevue with 
some Omaha Indians, formerly captured by the 
Sauks, and delivered them to their tribe. Three un- 
lucky dragoons were drowned in crossing the Platte 
Eiver.121 

From the land of the Otoes came rumors of the 
unfriendly disposition of those Indians, who were 
manifesting an arrogant attitude toward the gov- 
ernment employees of the agency at Council Bluffs. 
Colonel Kearny immediately mustered about two 
hundred men under Captains Boone and Allen, and 
on September 5, 1839, set out from Fort Leaven- 
worth for another field campaign. 

''Following generally the old 'Council Bluffs' 
road, on the south side of the Missouri river, ", wrote 
a member of this detachment, ^^^ "the troops moved 
leisurely onward, over a country luxuriant, pictur- 
esque, and at some points beautiful ; the monotony of 
the march being varied by, at one time, the abrupt 
banks of some prairie stream, to allow the passage 
of the wagons, and, at another, of turning from a 
direct course to head some hollow whose marshy 
bottom would bear neither man nor horse." 

Wolf Creek, the Great and Little Nemaha rivers, 
and other streams were crossed in turn, and soon 
the dragoon horses were wading through the low 
waters and quicksands of the Platte B-iver. On the 
low sandy beach of the stream they discovered the 



THE WESTERN MILITARY FRONTIER 83 

skeleton of one of the three dragoons who had been 
drowned there a few months before. The now use- 
less sword, belt, and cartridge-box lying near the 
owner's remains and marked by the letter of his 
company, identified the unfortunate dragoon. The 
skeleton was carefully placed in a box, conveyed to 
camp, and in the evening buried with the honors of 
war. 

The Oto and Missouri tribes, numbering less than 
one thousand souls, lived about midway between 
Bellevue and the Platte River upon the edge of a 
level plain skirted by timber. Their condition was 
rather deplorable: game was decreasing; the culti- 
vation of the corn crop was only moderately success- 
ful; there were charges of bad faith in treaty- 
making; and the whiskey-peddlers from the south 
flourished. The attempts to civilize these Indians, 
the Indian Agent, Joseph V. Hamilton believed, had 
not produced any beneficial effects. ^-^ 

A council to be held on the 16th of September 
was agreed upon. ''After a delay of unusual length, 
though at no time remarkable for punctuality," 
relates one dragoon, "a long string of warriors, boys 
and women, gave notice of the approach of the 
nation. ' ' The motley crowd was halted by the dra- 
goon sentinels and about twenty of the chief men 
then dismounted, approached the encampment, and 
took their seats in the council. Upon the invitation 
of the Colonel the members of the nation came for- 
ward and ranged themselves in concentric circles 
about the council fire. ' ' Observing that, contrary to 



84 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

custom, the Indians had come into council armed, the 
commanding officer refused to have anything to say 
to them while thus equipped, and directed them to 
lay aside weapons which he neither feared nor had 
come to contend against. This being done Col. 
Kearny addressed the council. ' ' 

The dragoon commander declared that he repre- 
sented the Great Father and that he was glad to see 
the Indians. Eeports of misconduct had come to him 
and he now demanded that the offenders be given up 
to be publicly chastised, since the whole nation could 
not be punished. Three young braves were there- 
upon surrendered and some Pawnee chiefs present 
bitterly reproached them for their misdeeds. 

Here Agent Hamilton arose, requesting that the 
prisoners be not publicly whipped and promising to 
answer for the future conduct of the prisoners. To 
this the Colonel finally yielded and Hamilton ex- 
plained to the Otoes that he had pledged himself to 
Kearny for their good conduct hereafter. It was 
with great relief that the council dissolved and the 
firm and courageous attitude of the dragoon com- 
mander had not been without effect upon these 
savage minds. 

On September 17th the dragoons swam their 
horses over the Missouri River and on that night the 
detachment encamped in one of the Potawatomi 
villages. Twelve chiefs having appeared, Colonel 
Kearny discussed with them the plan of a new treaty 
which contemplated an exchange of their present 
lands for others south of the Missouri River. The 



THE WESTERN MILITARY FRONTIER 85 

Colonel likewise advised them to inspect these lands 
with a view to their future occupancy. The return 
march was without incident and the two companies 
arrived at Fort Leavenworth on September 25th. 

By the year 1840 the fringe of settlement in the 
Louisiana Purchase included the present States of 
Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and the eastern part 
of the Territory of Iowa; and the western military 
frontier coincided roughly with its western limits.^-"* 
Although about 41,000 Indians had been removed to 
the west of the Mississippi River since 1836, the mili- 
tary frontier of 1840 was even weaker than usual. 
The twenty-six companies in the nine posts aggre- 
gated in December only about sixteen hundred men. 
A squadron of dragoons had been sent to reinforce 
Brigadier General George M. Brooke at Fort Craw- 
ford on the Mississippi, five companies remained at 
Fort Leavenworth for garrison duty, while Captain 
J. P. Simonton with forty-four dragoons had been 
spending some time in fruitless efforts to construct 
a fort on the unhealthful site chosen for Fort 
■Wayne.125 

Work commenced at Fort Wayne had been aban- 
doned in June, 1839, because of the unhealthfulness 
of the site. Four companies of dragoons and one of 
infantry had been quartered in barracks situated on 
a small stream near Illinois Creek, and in the 
summer of that year the sick report ranged from 
sixty to one hundred and twenty.^^^ A new site, 
however, was chosen about equidistant from Fort 
Gibson and Fort Smith, and late in this year a de- 



86 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

tachment of seventy dragoons under Captain E. B. 
Birdsall was steaming up the Arkansas River on 
the ''Trident" to reinforce the garrison at Fort 
Wayne.^2^ 

Mechanics, citizens, carpenters, and soldiers 
joined in the work of erecting temporary quarters 
before the approach of winter. Although there was 
no finished lumber or saw-mill, produce for the gar- 
rison was cheap and plenty. ''Whiskey, too, is 
awfully abundant, and a great drawback", described 
an observer. "The soldiers will drink it; and it is 
most pernicious in its effects, being of the worst 
possible kind, and sold very cheap. "^-^ 

Appropriations for the further erection of bar- 
racks at Fort Wayne, Fort Smith, and Fort Leaven- 
worth aggregated $100,000 in 1840.^-^ Provisions, 
too, constituted a large expense in maintaining the 
various garrisons. The commissary-general's, ad- 
vertisement for bids on goods to be delivered at Fort 
Smith in 1840 called for the following articles : 1000 
barrels of pork; 2000 barrels of fresh, superfine 
flour; 900 bushels of new white field beans; 400 
bushels of good, clean, dry salt; and 15,000 pounds 
of good, hard soap.^^^ 

The year 1840 seems to have been one of peace on 
the western frontier. In March news came to Fort 
Leavenworth that the Otoes had crossed over into 
Missouri and were killing stock and insulting or 
threatening the settlers. Captain Boone made a 
quick march with two companies of dragoons on 
March 24th, and soon the valley of the Nishnabotna 



THE WESTERN MILITARY FRONTIER 87 

was again peaceful. ^^^ In September Colonel Kearny 
led a party of Ms dragoons among the Potawatomi. 
As tlie result of a council which was held a better 
feeling was established between them and the neigh- 
boring tribes.^^^ 



VIII 

PATROL AND GARRISON DUTIES IN IOWA 
TERRITORY 133 

Besides an exterior line of garrisons the erection of 
a number of interior, temporary posts in the West 
became a policy of frontier military defense as early 
as 1840. The maintenance of treaties and order 
among the settlers as well as among the Indians 
necessitated the presence of troops in immediate 
contact with the tribes. It was in the Territory of 
Iowa where such a force was on duty at four posts 
— not to conduct a war or to repel invasions but to 
keep watch over the Indian traders, the fur com- 
panies, the coming and departing Indians, and to 
cooperate with resident Indian agents. 

Between the Mississippi and the Des Moines 
rivers in the Territory of Iowa a rectangular strip of 
land forty miles wide had been ceded by the Sac and 
Fox and Sioux tribes as early as 1830. Two years 
later the Winnebagoes ceded all their lands east of 
the Mississippi and, after June, 1833, agreed to 
occupy this strip, known as the Neutral Ground. 
But loath to leave the homes of their ancestors the 
Winnebagoes migrated slowly ; and so another treaty 
was negotiated in 1837. It was not until about June, 

88 



IN IOWA TERRITORY 89 

1840, however, that the last band, diseased in body 
and wounded in spirit, settled upon the new habitat 
chosen for the tribe.^^'* 

It became the duty of the government to provide 
military protection for these weak villages, sur- 
rounded as they were by warlike neighbors and 
inclined to rove beyond the limits of their reserva- 
tion. In May, 1840, a company of eighty-two men 
from Fort Crawford encamped within the reserva- 
tion on Turkey River. The next year this encamp- 
ment was given the name of Fort Atkinson. On 
June 24th the dragoons of Company B arrived at the 
post and were quartered in barracks erected that 
year. It was advised, however, that heavy expendi- 
tures on the works be not made because the pressure 
from the settlements would soon drive the Indians 
farther north or south. Repairing and construction 
continued in 1842, a magazine, stables, and picket 
works being completed.^^^ 

Barrack life at Fort Atkinson disclosed to the 
dragoons a sad picture of their 2183 wards. A con- 
quered race physically, intellectually, and morally, 
the Winnebagoes showed little interest in the sub- 
agency mill and farm intended for their benefit. 
Whiskey was obtained from places nearly two hun- 
dred miles distant, and "scenes of wretchedness, 
bloodshed, and murder, are transpiring so fre- 
quently in their drunken frolics, that they have 
ceased to be objects of wonder and attention. "^^® 
Hundreds joined the sub-agent's temperance society, 
but soon they were drinking more than before. 



90 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Patrol duty often took the dragoons from the 
fort upon distant tours. Upon the requisitions of 
Governor John Chambers of Iowa Territory detach- 
ments were sent to remove squatters and other 
intruders from the Sac and Fox lands to the south 
and to prevent their return. Not a few pioneers 
from the eastern part of the Territory were unable 
to refrain from unlawfully settling upon the beauti- 
ful Indian lands or from staking out claims, survey- 
ing, or marking boundaries for future locations. 

About the year 1841 the dragoons, discovering 
that Leroy C. Evans had made a claim on the Indian 
lands (near the present town of Bloomfield in Davis 
County), set fire to his cabin and fencing. Nearby 
another squatter named Culver planted in the season 
of 1841 a fine crop of corn, beans, and other veg- 
etables with the hope of obtaining a profitable 
harvest. But in the fall a detachment of the dra- 
goons swooped down upon his claim, burned his 
house, and destroyed his crops. In Wapello County, 
also, James Jordan and others squatted upon the 
Sac and Fox lands,^^^ disregarding the warnings of 
the Indian Agent, John Beach. A force of dragoons 
under Lieutenant C. F. Euff appeared. The squat- 
ters were allowed to remove their household goods ; 
but their fences and homes soon disappeared in 
smoke and flame. 

Forty-four dragoons of Company I under Cap- 
tain Allen, after a long overland journey from Fort 
Leavenworth, arrived at Fort Atkinson on August 7, 
1842. So urgent had become the need of a military 



IN IOWA TERRITORY 91 

force among the Sacs and Foxes that Captain Allen 
was soon on his way to the agency where he went 
into quarters. Here he was joined a few months 
later by Lieutenant William N. Grier and eighteen 
other dragoons. Such was the force at the ''Sac and 
Fox Agency", otherwise known as Fort Sanford, 
until its abandonment on May 17, 1843.^^^ 

No other point upon the Indian frontier, urged 
Agent Beach, was more in need of a permanent mili- 
tary force. ^^^ ''Within a period of less than two 
years, it has been necessary three times to call for a 
detachment, whose march on each occasion has been 
attended with much expense and inconvenience; 
while requisition for another to attend the approach- 
ing payment has been sent. No obstruction, no 
means of prevention, here exist to the continual 
passage to and fro in the Indian country of the most 
lawless and desperate characters, who can at any 
time commit outrages against order, morality, and 
the laws, with perfect impunity." 

On September 17, 1841, Lieutenant Thomas 
McCrate's fifty dragoons encamped at Iowa City, 
and in the next month witnessed the unsuccessful 
negotiations in which Governor Chambers attempted 
to induce the Sacs and Foxes to cede their lands in 
Iowa Territory. ^-^^ A year later when the treaty 
was consummated a dragoon force witnessed an 
equally picturesque scene. The savage garb of thou- 
sands of Indians stood in contrast to the simple 
dress of the pioneers and especially to the brilliant 
uniforms of the dragoon officers. There were solemn 



92 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

deliberations, and also Indian yells making the 
October nights hideous. Squads of dragoons kept 
from the council the curious and hopeful onlookers ; 
and Captain Allen and Lieutenant Ruff in witnessing 
the treaty could well imagine the tide of settlement 
that was soon to follow.^"*^ 

Eight rude log cabins, then only recently the 
establishments of the American Fur Company, 
sheltered the dragoons during the severe and linger- 
ing winter of 1842-1843. Two other huts for the 
officers and some stables completed the camp. From 
Fairfield, a little village twenty-one miles to the east, 
a weekly express brought mail for the dragoons 
which no doubt furnished a welcome break in the 
monotony of almost daily visits of Indians, govern- 
ment agents, and impatient settlers. 

Social life at the agency could not have been 
very gay to the dragoon officers still bearing the 
memories of balls at West Point. Ladies were few 
and settlements were widely separated; but at the 
home of the Indian interpreter, Josiah Smart, and 
his wife hospitality was generous and delightful. 
On February 22, 1843, farm wagons and horses 
bearing the pioneer folk were on their way to Fair- 
field, where Jefferson County had gathered its 
beauty and its chivalry. Handsomely attired in their 
uniforms. Captain Allen and his subordinates shone 
conspicuously as cotillion after cotillion carried the 
festivities far into the early hours of the morning.^-*^ 

On the far western frontier, meanwhile, five com- 
panies had made an expedition from Fort Leaven- 



IN IOWA TERRITORY 93 

worth to the Arkansas Eiver. Fort Wayne, after a 
checkered and inglorious record, was finally aban- 
doned on May 26, 1842. Two troops of dragoons and 
also a company of infantry in the same month 
erected Fort Scott in the present State of Kansas; 
while Fort Croghan was established as a temporary 
post on the last day of this month.^^^ These with a 
few other transfers constituted the principal opera- 
tions on the western frontier in this year. 

Fort Croghan, first called "Camp Fenwick" and 
located on the left bank of the Missouri Eiver near 
the site of the present city of Council Bluffs, had 
been established by Captain Burgwin, who had 
ascended the river on a steamboat with sixty or sev- 
enty dragoons from Fort Leavenworth.^^ ^ It was 
situated in the Council Blutfs sub-agency, and the 
troops stationed there were to prevent hostilities 
between the Potawatomi and the Sioux, to cooperate 
with the officials in enforcing the law and regulations 
against the whiskey traffic, and perhaps to preserve 
order at the time of the payment of the Indian 
annuities. 

Contrasted to the Indian poverty was the abun- 
dance of bird and animal life surrounding the 
dragoon encampment. Magpies, starlings, wrens, 
cowbirds, hawks, orioles, and various kinds of black- 
birds were plentiful; while on the streams were 
ducks, geese, and stately herons and pelicans. Deer 
sometimes scampered over the prairies, and wolves 
prowled about the camp. In the month of July a 
hunting expedition of twenty Indians and twenty 



94 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

dragoons killed ten elk, fifty-one buffalo, and one 
hundred and four deer within eighty miles of the 
encampment. ^^^ 

John James Audubon, the naturalist, who came 
up the Missouri River on the ''Omega", a boat of 
the American Fur Company, has left some glimpses 
of the dragoons at Fort Croghan as they appeared 
in May, 1843. A few dragoon carbine shots in front 
of the "Omega" induced the captain to anchor his 
craft, and an officer then announced his intention to 
search the vessel for smuggled liquor. Audubon at 
once secured a dragoon horse and rode out to visit 
Captain Burgwin at the camp. The old barracks 
and parade-ground, he was told, had been inundated 
by a freshet and the tents had then been pitched 
four miles farther away. Later in the day the dra- 
goon officers returned the visit, and on board the 
"Omega" were regaled with luncheon and liquor.^^^ 
The search was then made ; but the delay had enabled 
the captain to outwit the dragoon inspector, and 
soon the boat with its load of liquor was safely on 
its way.^^^ 

A fourth post in Iowa Territory to be occupied 
by a dragoon force was Fort Des Moines at the 
junction of the Des Moines and the Raccoon rivers. ^'^^ 
It may be recalled that the Sac and Fox treaty of 
1842 permitted the Indians to reside for three years 
in the west half of the area then ceded. Captain 
Allen visited the site soon after the treaty and sub- 
mitted an elaborate report which urged that a fort 
and garrison be established to protect the Indians in 



IN IOWA TERRITORY 95 

tlieir treaty rights while they resided on the cession. 
Orders to construct the fort were issued in Feb- 
ruary, 1843, and in the spring the dragoons forsook 
the Sac and Fox Agency and removed to the new 
site. The steamer "Agatha" labored up the Des 
Moines River, carrying supplies for the new post 
from St. Louis, and a keel-boat brought up some 
property from the Sac and Fox Agency. By May 
21st about fifty dragoons and about forty-five infan- 
trymen had arrived at the site, where a store-house, 
barracks, a hospital, officers' quarters, the sutler's 
house, corrals, and stables soon rose above the plain 
on which is now located the capital of Iowa. 

For nearly three years this post was a patrol 
center among the Sacs and Foxes, and the small 
garrison was usually on active duty. Vagabond 
speculators and traders hovered about the post and 
the agency. Again Agent Beach bitterly denounced 
the whiskey traffic and those harpies who were prey- 
ing upon his wards settled within sight of the agency 
and upon the Skunk River — all too near the whites. 

Even Captain Allen was accused of treating the 
Indians to whiskey; and at the garrison there were 
rumors that both the dragoon captain and the sutler 
had a particular object in getting the Indians drunk 
just when the annuities were paid. One soldier, it is 
said, passed the jug to the Indians in the presence of 
some of the officers. "It is a fact that the location 
of Fort Des Moines among the Sac and Fox Indians 
(under its present commander,) for the last two 
years, has corrupted them more and lowered them 



96 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

deeper in the scale of vice and degradation, than all 
their intercourse with the whites for the ten years 
previous. "^"^^ 

Squatters impatient for the termination of the 
treaty were crowding upon the boundary line and 
both tact and firmness were necessary to prevent 
hostile acts. In the winter of 1844 a band of Foxes 
strayed back to their old homes on the Iowa River 
where they became so troublesome to the settlers 
that a force from the post compelled them to return. 
Similar expeditions were necessary during the fol- 
lowing year until October 11th, when all the Sacs 
and Foxes, save about a hundred sick and infirm, 
sorrowfully left the Des Moines Valley for their new 
lands on the Missouri.^^*^ 

At Fort Des Moines the dragoons had now per- 
formed their mission and the evacuation of the post 
began early in 1846. The dragoons last remaining 
escorted the remnant of the Sacs and Foxes to their 
new homes and soon after were exchanging reminis- 
cences with old comrades at Fort Leavenworth. 



IX 



ON THE CANADIAN AND ARKANSAS 
EIVERS 

Exploration and the protection of the caravans of 
overland merchants on their way to Santa Fe con- 
stituted the principal tasks of several companies of 
dragoons during the year 1843. These escort duties 
led them over the old trade route across the present 
State of Kansas, while their trail of exploration 
winds between the Canadian and Arkansas rivers in 
the States of Kansas and Oklahoma. 

Captain Boone with sixty dragoons left Fort 
Gibson on May 14, 1843, for a tour which lasted 
about eleven weeks.^^^ For almost two weeks the 
squadron moved along the Arkansas River over hills, 
prairies, ravines, and steep ascents. On the 20th 
Lieutenant Abraham R. Johnston with twenty- seven 
men of Company D joined the march, and on that 
day the troops crossed the Arkansas River. Deer 
and antelope sometimes scampered over the prairies 
and elk tracks attracted the keen eyes of Captain 
Boone. Presently the column was crossing old 
stamping-grounds where weather-beaten skeletons 
and staring skulls indicated the former presence of 
hordes of buffalo. 



97 



i^ 



98 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

''The destruction of these animals yearly", ob- 
served Captain Boone in his Journal, ''and their 
falling off so rapidly makes it certain, almost, that 
in a few years they will only be known as a rare 
species. More than 30,000 robes for commerce come 
down the Missouri annually, these added to those 
which go elsewhere, must make the tax on the buffalo 
robes annually come to exceed 100,000. Taking into 
consideration the fact that the animals destroyed for 
food are taken in the summer while the hair is almost 
all off, and, of course, the robe useless, we can 
readily account for this disappearance from the 
grounds we have been travelling over, and make it 
certain that the buffalo must soon cease on these 
plains altogether." 

Late in May several old Indian lodges were dis- 
covered and soon the dragoons were guests at a 
camp of thirty-five or forty Osages who had just 
killed twenty-five buffalo. The following morning 
the lariats were found cut and ten horses and two 
mules had disappeared. The Osages now appeared 
and reported that the theft of the animals was the 
work of the Pawnees. Captain Boone immediately 
sent thirty men in pursuit who galloped over the 
trail for thirty miles and then lost it in a sandy plain. 
Suspicion was then fixed upon the Osages, one of 
whom soon afterward was seen riding one of the 
stolen mules. The horses, however, were never 
recovered. 

By steady riding during the first week in June, 
Captain Boone advanced across salt plains, reddish 



THE CANADIAN AND ARKANSAS RIVERS 99 

soils, creeks, ravines, and sand drifted in heaps by 
the winds. Here and there the dragoons observed 
deer, antelope, prairie dogs, and sometimes buffalo 
in large numbers. The detachment then struck the 
Santa Fe trace — a thoroughfare rutted by traders ' 
wagons which for many years had jolted over the 
course between Independence, Missouri, and Santa 
Fe. 

A clump of timber — ' ' Mulberry Grove ' ' — shel- 
tered Captain Boone's command on the 7th of June. 
Then for about two weeks the dragoons advanced 
westward on the Santa Fe Trail. A small party of 
traders bound for Santa Fe and California was 
found on the Little Arkansas River. They informed 
Captain Boone that the Governor of Santa Fe w^as 
expected at the Arkansas River with an escort for 
them. 

The second week of June was inclement and 
Captain Boone's Journal notes frequent storms of 
sleety rains, hail, thunder, and wind. Thickets of 
elm, box elder, and plum gave relief to dragoon 
horses which had been fording creeks and wading 
through banks of drifted sand. Cow Creek was 
crossed, and on the 10th of June the column forded 
the waters of the Arkansas River. 

Three days later the command encamped at the 
mouth of Walnut Creek. On this stream three com- 
panies of dragoons under Captain Cooke were 
encamped — an advance guard for a caravan of 
about fifty wagons bound for Santa Fe. "As the 
traders had gotten within 12 miles", thought Captain 



100 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Boone, ''and there was no guessing at, when the 
water would allow them to come on, and as they 
appeared by the intelligence furnished by Captain 
Cooke, to be in no sort of apprehension of an attack, 
we prepared for a move tomorrow." 

After marching thirty miles over alternate 
stretches of clay, sand, and prairie. Captain Boone's 
command invaded a great buffalo range. From an 
eminence the soldiers enjoyed the grand sight of 
perhaps ten thousand buffalo feeding on the plains 
below as far as the eye could see. ''In destroying 
them," explained the Journal, "the surest weapon 
is a short barrelled shot-gun carrying a large ball ; as 
they are the most easily managed. . . . The fat 
of the buffalo is more oily than tallow and is better 
for cooking. In selecting an animal from the herd 
to kill, one should look to their thickness through the 
hump, they will be the fattest that are broadest 
through there, and plump. For a mile or two they 
run almost as fast as a horse, and are then easily 
caught. Their hides are very thick and from the 
form of the animal they are well adapted to make 
skin boats of." 

The marches during the last week of June offered 
pleasant scenery. Water from clear springs re- 
freshed men and animals, and the evening encamp- 
ments were surrounded by groves of cedar, elm, and 
Cottonwood. Gypsum beds, salt rock, contorted 
mineral forms, and brackish streams which cut up 
the country into a multitude of little valleys, gave 
character to the surface. Buffalo were observed 



THE CANADIAN AND ARKANSAS RIVERS 101 

almost daily, and elk at times timidly approached 
the dragoon camps. A dragoon officer gave chase to 
a mustang which sounded the alarm to a herd of 
about thirty others, and all then fled in terror across 
the uneven plains. 

Emerging upon a plain Captain Boone rode over 
a wide expanse of salt which had been carried up 
from underground rock salt by springs. The crys- 
tals deposited on the surface formed a white layer 
which cast a glare in the bright sunlight. A few 
days later on the Cimarron River another saline, 
called by Captain Boone the ''Rock Salt", was dis- 
covered where the springs had deposited a rock or 
crust of salt covering about one hundred and sixty 
acres. "In many places through this Rock salt 
crust the water boiled up clear as chrystal [sic] ; 
tempting to one suffering from thirst; but so salt, 
that our hands after being immersed in it and suf- 
fered to dry, became as white as snow. "^^^ 

Easy marching brought the dragoons to the 
Canadian River on July 11, 1843.^^^ Although the 
bed of this stream was about half a mile wide it con- 
tained but little water and was easily forded by the 
column. For the next week Captain Boone travelled 
down the valley of this river along its southern 
bank. Buffalo were becoming scarce, but occasion- 
ally wild horses would gallop over the ridges and 
ravines. 

Inspection of the dragoons at this time would not 
always have revealed a trim column. Dust-covered 
troopers urged on their jaded and perspiring horses ; 



102 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

while the mules patiently dragged the three camp 
wagons over rough plains and ravines. The scarcity 
of water and the swarms of flies caused both men 
and animals to suffer. Heat waves danced and 
quivered in the noonday atmosphere, but relief and 
repose came in the evening camps under clear skies. 

The Canadian River was again crossed on July 
18th, and on that day Lieutenant Johnston with his 
company left Captain Boone to march to Fort 
Washita. "Remained in camp to day", says the 
Journal for July 24, 1843, "to rest our jaded cattle 
and to dry our beef. Indians visited us throughout 
the course of the day, bringing in marketing of 
various kinds — Seemed to regard our presence as a 
kindly visitation of providence in supplying them 
the means of disposing of some of their produce and 
the means of getting a little money." 

Early in the morning of each day the squadron 
resumed the march. On July 25th the burial of a 
dragoon accidentally killed by a carbine detained 
Captain Boone for a brief time, but soon the com- 
mand left Fort Holmes behind. Then the sight of 
the timber along the Arkansas River gave promise 
of rest and better quarters. It was at mid-day on 
July 31, 1843, that Captain Boone's companies 
halted and then broke ranks on the parade ground at 
Fort Gibson. 

Captain Cooke late in the summer of 1843 again 
performed the duty of protecting a caravan on 
the Santa Fe Trail.^^"* For over twenty years the 



THE CANADIAN AND ARKANSAS RIVERS 103 

ends of the trail at Independence and at Santa Fe 
had witnessed this far-flung traffic, the history of 
which is stocked with tales of wealth and failure, 
dangers and adventure, picturesque scenes and hum- 
drum toil. In 1829 Major Eiley had led a military 
escort over a portion of this trail of seven hundred 
and seventy miles, and five years later Captain 
Wharton's dragoons had seen similar service. In 
1843 the growth of the commerce and the public 
demands for its protection had again brought mili- 
tary forces upon the route. ^^^ 

Wagon after wagon heavily loaded with goods 
for the Mexican trade at Santa Fe had been leaving 
Independence during August of 1843. Blue Camp, 
Round Grove, Oregon Trail Junction, Black Jack 
Point, and 110-Mile Creek were well known points 
on the trail. Steady travelling for one hundred and 
fifty miles finally brought the traders to Council 
Grove, the spot where they assembled and organized 
the caravan for the long journey to Santa Fe. 

To the four companies of dragoons directed to 
escort the caravan the encampment here presented 
new scenes. Council Grove was a fertile bottom 
land of about one hundred and sixty acres heavily 
timbered with oak, elm, hickory, ash, and walnut. 
Scores of wagons loaded with such articles as cotton 
cloth, calicoes, hardware, soap, sugar, and coffee be- 
tokened a wealthy caravan. Here too it was custom- 
ary to cut extra axle-trees and to make other repairs 
for the heavy Pittsburg or Dearborn wagons. Oxen 
and mules, grazing in the lush grass, dotted the hills 



104 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

and valleys. Not unlikely the air was vocal with the 
rude jests of the wagoners, farmers, or backwoods- 
men, as well as with the oaths of Mexican drivers as 
they harnessed the animals or reloaded the mer- 
chandise of the caravan.^^^ 

Soon the motley line of dragoons and traders was 
moving across the prairies. On September 3, 1843, 
it arrived at Diamond Spring ^^'^ where there was 
good camping ground and cool water from a spring. 
Cheers, unearthly yells, and volleys of whipcracks 
from the swarthy Mexicans urged on the overworked 
mules. On September 6th the traders halted near 
Cottonwood Fork. In the next three days the dra- 
goons, although retarded by rains and tormented by 
mosquitoes, advanced over forty miles. 

"All day it has rained again", complained Cap- 
tain Cooke for the 9th of September. "We have 
been lying still, trying to keep dry and warm, on the 
bank of the Little Arkansas. There are a few green 
trees and bushes, but little fuel. Worst of all is the 
case of the poor horses — they are starving and 
freezing before our eyes, for the grass is very coarse 
and poor ; they have shrunk very sensibly in twenty- 
four hours. ' ' 

Here Captain Cooke awaited the coming of the 
traders who had been left far behind. A squadron 
of dragoons worn and tattered came from the south 
and joined the command; but they soon departed on 
the return trail to Fort Leavenworth. Drills, inspec- 
tions, reorganizations, and the reading of a few old 
newspapers occupied the dragoon captain. Not until 



THE CANADIAN AND ARKANSAS RIVERS 105 

September 14th did the traders commence to cross 
the Little Arkansas. 

Leaving the slow-moving traders behind, the 
dragoon escort met a small group of traders who 
were returning from a successful trading venture at 
Santa Fe. At Cow Creek buffalo were observed and 
there an unfortunate dragoon was accidentally 
wounded by a carbine. Numerous buffalo at Walnut 
Creek prompted a chase, with the result that the 
command on that day feasted on buffalo meat instead 
of beef. In another day the force was resting in the 
shade of cottonwood trees on the banks of the Arkan- 
sas River, where men and animals were attacked by 
swarms of mosquitoes. 

For about twenty-two miles Captain Cooke's 
cavalcade continued to advance on the trail along the 
north bank of the Arkansas. A dismal, cold rain 
pelted the dragoons as they waded through muddy 
quicksands or shivered in their tireless camps. ^'In 
vain was excitement offered in the shape of the most 
convenient herds of buffalo; cows, calves, in far 
family groups, kicking up the mud as they ran past 
almost into our faces : — a cape saturated to board- 
like stiffness, thrown back — a sodden holster-cover 
half raised — a horse urged to a deeper splash or 
two — and then, reaction brought us to the cold 
stage again!" 

The encampment at the "Caches" offered fresh 
grass to the hungry dragoon horses. An express 
from the belated caravan informed Captain Cooke 
that the traders were still water-bound at Cow 



106 MAECHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Creek. A raw, searching wind having arisen, the 
dragoon captain in his cheerless camp wondered 
whether he would be compelled to winter on the 
Arkansas River or whether he would be enabled to 
enjoy his books and the company of his comrades in 
the more cozy quarters of Fort Leavenworth. 

The first day of October dawned fair and bright. 
On the 5th Captain Cooke observed a Mexican escort 
at the Cimarron Crossing on the Arkansas River. 
This stream then formed the international boundary 
and President Santa Anna had sent about two hun- 
dred Mexicans to escort the traders from this point 
to Santa Fe. An invitation to visit the dragoon 
camp was declined by the Mexican commander, but 
Captain Cooke lingered to see the caravan ford the 
Arkansas River. 

Mounting his command in order of battle. Cap- 
tain Cooke directed a salute in honor of the Mexicans 
to be fired from the howitzer battery.^^® As the 
reports travelled down a fine reach of the river the 
shells bounded and rebounded on the stream and 
finally exploded under the chilly water. The traders 
now resumed their journey of about three hundred 
and eighty miles, but Captain Cooke's dragoons 
turned their faces toward home. 

The return journey was made in about two weeks 
by steady marching. In a beautiful bend of the 
Arkansas River a forest of antlers indicated a large 
herd of big game ; on that evening the dragoon camp 
enjoyed elk steak in abundance. At the Pawnee 
Fork great numbers of buffalo were heard as they 



THE CANADIAN AND ARKANSAS RIVERS 107 

splashed through the river in their nocturnal migra- 
tions. Another herd was seen at Ash Creek, and 
five were slain within a mile of the camping ground. 

One after another of the camps of the previous 
summer was passed, the retreat being hastened by 
fears of starvation for the mules and horses. Water 
was freezing every night and the frost-covered grass 
was no longer fit for the dragoon horses which were 
beginning to drop on the trail. Dragoon blankets 
were shared with them and the dead grass chopped 
with knives was mixed with flour to be fed to the 
hungry horses. 

When the hospitable shelter of Council Grove was 
reached some of the broken-down horses were left to 
rest and to await the arrival of forage. Here the 
Santa Fe trace was abandoned, and the groves at 
110-Mile Creek induced Captain Cooke to linger for 
several days. Now and then prairie fires fanned by 
the October winds caused dense clouds of smoke to 
rise high in the air. 

As Fort Leavenworth loomed into view the sol- 
diers forgot the toils and hardships of the recent 
campaign. Their work for the season was about 
done, and they were now indulging in the luxury of 
visions of letters and newspapers from home, crack- 
ling log-fires, and a winter of repose and enjoyment 
at the old barracks of Fort Leavenworth. 



CAPTAIN ALLEN'S JOURNEY TO THE 
NORTHWEST 

A NOTEWORTHY Gveiit in the brief history of Fort 
Des Moines (No. 2) was Captain Allen's march in 
the summer and fall of 1844. This expedition of 
seven hundred and forty miles crossed the present 
States of Iowa, Minnesota, and South Dakota — areas 
at that time embraced within the Territory of Iowa. 
The records of this military movement preserve 
interesting accounts of adventures as well as geo- 
graphical information.^^^ 

August 11, 1844, was the day on which the caval- 
cade commenced to file across the prairies toward 
the north. The company consisting of about fifty 
dragoons was provisioned with pork for forty days, 
flour for sixty days, and small rations for seventy 
days. The route designated in the orders was ''up 
the Des Moines river, and to the sources of the Blue 
Earth river of the St. Peter 's ; thence to the waters 
of the Missouri; and thence returning through the 
country of the Pottowatomies." 

For about three weeks the dragoons advanced 
along the west bank of the Des Moines River and 
then along the east bank of the west fork of that 

108 



CAPTAIN ALLEN'S JOURNEY 109 

stream — a distance of about two hundred and fifty 
miles. Wagons heavily loaded with provisions and 
camp equipment were dragged by mules and oxen 
over prairies interspersed with ravines and covered 
with tall grass. 

Daily marches of about fifteen miles soon dis- 
closed a fine game country which yielded elk, deer, 
coons, squirrels, and waterfowl in plenty. Soldiers 
dripping with mud and water helped to drag wagons 
over flooded prairies; wagon tongues sometimes 
broke; and camping places were found with diffi- 
culty. ''About five in the afternoon," wrote Captain 
Allen, ''while we were fast in a mudhole, there came 
a tremendous storm from the north, with torrents of 
rain; and night and pitch darkness, with rain, 
thunder, and cold, found us three or four miles from 
timber, and unable to go further; there was no firm 
ground about us, and there we spent the night as we 
best could, without fire, shelter, or food. ' ' 

Clearer skies returned as the column meandered 
about in a region containing smooth, glassy sheets 
of water. Although Medium Lake was unknown to 
Captain Allen by name, he could not repress admi- 
ration for its shores skirted by primeval groves of 
trees that were reflected from the surface. Here one 
of the men shot an elk; and large flocks of ducks, 
geese, and swans, thus rudely disturbed, forsook 
their favorite haunts to fly from such strange 
invaders. 

Captain Allen, unaware that he was traversing a 
region destined to be classic ground for the future 



no MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

geologist, failed to observe the fertility of the soil. 
*'The whole country is good for nothing," he writes, 
' ' except for the seclusion and safety it affords to the 
numerous water fowl that are hatched and grown in 
it." Wading through tall, luxuriant grass the 
troops encamped on Swan Lake which is still an 
abiding attraction in the rural landscape. Lieuten- 
ant P. Calhoun then explored Turtle Lake — a body 
of water ''7 or 10 miles long, of beautiful character, 
with bright pebbled shores, and well-timbered bor- 
ders, having a small stream running into it from the 
westward, and also an outlet to the eastward. " ^*^^ 

Shetek Lake, the source of the west fork of the 
Des Moines River, was explored on September 1, 
1844. A fleet elk eluded Captain Allen, but a large 
black bear was chased into the dragoon column. 
Horses and mules snorted with terror until a regular 
fusillade of shots by the dragoons brought the animal 
down. Five years before J. N. Nicollet, a French 
geographer, having pitched his tents for three days 
in this region, was especially impressed by the abun- 
dance of fish and the groves of trees encircling the 
lakes.i^^ 

Leaving Lieutenant Patrick Noble with twenty- 
five men at the lake. Captain Allen advanced north- 
ward thirty-seven miles and then eastward to the 
Minnesota River (then called the St. Peter's River). 
Two elk were shot on the prairie, but two others 
after a long chase escaped. ' ' I do not like elk meat, ' ' 
comments Captain Allen. "It has a coarse fibre, is 
unlike the deer, and I think a mule would taste about 
as well. ' ' 



CAPTAIN ALLEN'S JOURNEY 111 

From the Minnesota River the dragoon captain 
marched southward over a country marked by 
marshy ponds and broken rock. The land observed 
on this trip was regarded by Captain Allen as almost 
worthless : the soil was poor, timber was scarce, and 
troops marched over the region with difficulty. In 
two days, however, the command travelled fifty- 
seven miles, rejoining Lieutenant Noble on Septem- 
ber 6, 1844. 

Charmed by the scenery and the abundance of 
waterfowl at Lake Shetek, the dragoons remained 
encamped for two days and then steered westward 
for about forty miles. Hour after hour the little 
detachment shogged along over wide level prairies 
dotted with little lakes. '' Encamped near sunset on 
the border of a slue, in the open prairie, there being 
no timber in sight ; the night cold, cloudy, and rain. ' ' 
On the following day three buffalo were killed, and 
so in the evening camp on the Big Sioux River the 
cooks prepared buffalo beef instead of the usual 
pork. 

It was a rough course over which the dragoons 
travelled in their marches down the valley of the Big 
Sioux. On September 10th a group of Indians came 
to the encampment and informed the dragoons that 
there was a trading-house at a point many miles 
down the river. In the morning two days later 
twelve horses and mules were missing and parties 
were sent out in all directions to find the animals, 
with the result that eight were recovered. Captain 
Allen suspected the Sioux Indians, whom he re- 



112 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

garded as ''great rascals, and capable of any theft.'* 
Since no trading-house could be discovered the dra- 
goon captain believed that the Indians had basely 
deceived him. ''It is said of the Sioux," he com- 
plained, "that they are prouder of, and more habitu- 
ated to, lying than truth-telling, and here is pretty 
good evidence in support of the charge. ' ' 

Though timid and agitated, these Indians gazed 
with some wonderment upon Captain Allen's force 
encamped on the buffalo range. Saddles, carbines, 
and camp utensils lay in profusion on the prairie, 
and horses and mules were picketed in the tall, 
luxuriant grass. Soldiers in uniforms more or less 
travel-stained were resting about the camp, perhaps 
smoking or discussing their unbidden Indian guests. 
During the chilly night sentinels stood guard while 
troopers sated with buffalo meat may have dreamed 
of thrilling buffalo hunts on the prairies. In the 
morning sleepy dragoons awoke to find the grass 
heavy and white with the first September frost. 

The picturesque falls where now is the city of 
Sioux Falls excited the interest and admiration of 
the dragoon captain. Here an hour or two was spent 
making observations. Captain Allen estimated the 
fall to be one hundred feet in four hundred yards. 
One fall was twenty feet, another eighteen, and a 
third ten. The rock on the borders of the stream 
was split, broken, and piled up in irregular and fan- 
tastic shapes, and deep chasms extended from the 
stream in all directions. 

Buffalo hunts were almost daily incidents of the 



CAPTAIN ALLEN'S JOURNEY 113 

inarches. South of the falls the hunters charged a 
herd of more than one hundred animals just as the 
command was preparing to go into camp. The thud 
of hoofs and the reports of carbines sounded through 
the night air, and then two cows and a calf dropped 
on the prairie. The game, which during the night 
was guarded from the wolves by sentinels, was 
dressed on the next day. In what is now Lyon 
County, Iowa, six men fired a volley into a buffalo 
bull standing on the opposite side of the river. ''We 
might have killed hundreds by delaying for the pur- 
pose," declared Captain Allen. 

Luxuriant timber and rich alluvial soil came into 
view as the detachment descended the picturesque 
valley of the Big Sioux. But as the dragoons neared 
the mouth of the river ugly hills, broken ravines, and 
high bluffs retarded the movements of the troops. 
There were broken wagons, jaded horses, and dis- 
gruntled drivers. "Of course", remarks Captain 
Allen on September 19th, "we had all sorts of 
trouble, upset one wagon twice, killed one mule, and 
broke another wagon square off at the hounds. The 
romance of marching through a wilderness country 
is much abated." 

On September 20, 1844, the squadron remained 
encamped to repair the wagons. Captain Allen, 
however, set out with four men to find the mouth of 
the river which they had so laboriously traced. For 
seven miles they encountered bluffs, ravines, valleys, 
and swamps. They pushed through tall grass, plum- 
bushes, and willow-thickets dripping in the cold 

9 



114 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

September rain. Then Captain Allen beheld the 
muddy waters of the Missouri, and, on ground now 
occupied by a portion of Sioux City, he observed the 
effects of the great flood of the previous spring. 

Glad to leave "these terrible hills" of the Mis- 
souri he commenced to march southeastwardly for 
Fort Des Moines.^^^ There was plenty of hard work 
in constructing bridges across brooks, fording deep 
and miry creeks, or in preparing the banks of 
streams to be crossed. The long marches tired men 
and animals; even the entries in the Journal of 
Captain Allen became more brief as the soldiers 
labored towards the fort. 

Descending the Raccoon River, Captain Allen's 
men were perhaps too weary to note in detail the 
hills, bluffs, and groves which appeared and then 
receded from view. Heavy frosts deadened and 
blackened the grass and gave a sombre aspect to the 
morning landscapes. Dragoons walked miles and 
miles over the prairies to relieve their tired animals 
which were suffering from want of proper feed. In 
Dallas County a fine bear was chased over the 
prairies until a dragoon sergeant riding at full 
gallop shot him dead with a carbine. 

Eight miles were travelled on October 3, 1844. 
Teams were jaded, wagons dilapidated, and soldiers 
travel-worn when the command returned to Fort Des 
Moines at noon on that day. To Captain Allen re- 
mained only the pleasant duty of preparing the 
detailed narrative of this successful summer cam- 
paign.^^^ 



XI 



CAPTAIN SUMNER'S VISITS AMONG THE 
SIOUX 

At the twenty- two posts in the western division of 
the army in 1845 there was a total of about 1900 men. 
The ten companies of dragoons were stationed at 
four forts where they performed garrison duties and 
from which expeditions into the Indian country were 
despatched. In this year over two hundred men 
were enlisted at various stations to take the places 
of dragoons removed by sickness, death, and by the 
expiration of terms of enlistment.^*^^ 

Captain Sumner with a company of about sixty 
men at Fort Atkinson, besides effectively checking 
the sale of whiskey to the Winnebagoes near the 
Turkey River Agency, had marched to the Minnesota 
River in the summer of 1844. On June 3rd of the 
next year Company B again departed from Fort 
Atkinson to penetrate the Indian country drained by 
the Minnesota River in what was then the Territory 
of lowa.^^^ 

The northwesterly advance was slowed by the 
June rains which had saturated the prairies. Swol- 
len streams were crossed, and lakes, pools, and 
marshes compelled many extra miles of riding. On 

115 



116 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

June 13th Captain Allen with his company from 
Fort Des Moines joined Captain Sumner's column, 
and officers and privates then related their experi- 
ences of the previous summer. A few days later 
two men of Captain Allen's company were injured 
by the accidental discharge of a pistol. Without 
other special incidents the companies arrived at 
Traverse des Sioux on June 22nd. ^^^ 

Here was the great crossing place of the Sioux 
bands as they wandered back and forth over the 
buffalo ranges of the Minnesota Valley. Captain 
Sumner learned that the whiskey trade flourished in 
this region and in the past two months hundreds of 
kegs filled with the liquor had been transported up 
the river.^®^ The dragoon officers listened, perhaps, 
to discouraging tales from the Indian teachers re- 
siding at this place ; and so Captain Sumner told the 
Sioux that their great father, the President,, very 
much desired that they should obey the instructions 
of the missionaries. 

A boat which had ascended the river from Fort 
Snelling with howitzers and provisions had been 
awaiting the arrival of the dragoon force. But only 
seventeen barrels of flour out of the thirty-one re- 
quested had been forwarded. ''This mistake", 
declared Captain Sumner, "subjected my command 
to great inconvenience, for I was not in a country 
where it could be corrected by purchase," 

Ascending for six days the rich valley of the 
Minnesota River the troops arrived at Lac-qui-parle 
on July Ist.^^^ Several hundred Wahpeton Sioux 



CAPTAIN SUMNER AMONG THE SIOUX 117 

dwelt here for a portion of the year and cultivated 
patches of melons, squashes, and potatoes under the 
instruction of the missionaries. An unkempt crowd 
of Indians greeted Captain Sumner, who gave them 
some presents and then called them to a council. 

The government, began the dragoon captain, felt 
a deep interest in their welfare and promised pro- 
tection as long as they did not molest the settlers. 
He noted, however, that these Indians seemed un- 
willing that troops should interfere with the half- 
breeds from the British settlements. "I am con- 
vinced that the Indians would prefer that that 
people should continue to hunt upon their lands, 
than that our government should send troops 
through their country to keep them out." 

A halt of three days was made at Big Stone 
Lake^®^ where the dragoons met the stares of an- 
other band of Sioux. A council was called and 
presents were again distributed — although Captain 
Sumner declared that the gifts stood in contrast to 
the very liberal presents of the English agents. 
Three Indians charged with murder were impudent 
enough to march directly into the dragoon camp, 
where they were quickly seized by Captain Sumner 
who sent them to Dubuque for trial. 

Persistent rumors of the ill-will of the Sioux and 
of their purpose to secure some of the dragoon 
horses came to Captain Sumner. "As the best 
method of guarding against this threat, I always 
took occasion to say to the Indians in council that I 
was not at all afraid of their stealing our horses, 



118 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

intimating by manner that they could try it as soon 
as they pleased ; but I would just tell them, by way 
of caution, that if an Indian came near them at night 
he would be instantly shot; and it gives me great 
satisfaction to report that not an animal was stolen 
from the squadron this summer." 

Devil's Lake was reached on July 18, 1845,^^^ 
after many leagues of travel across the headwaters 
of the Red River of the North. About one hundred 
and eighty half-breeds, descendants of English, 
Scotch, Irish, and French settlers, who were en- 
camped here, listened to talks by the dragoon officer. 
For years these half-breeds had been making regular 
incursions into the Sioux country from Canada. 
Carts and wagons drawn by oxen would return from 
the Sioux hunting grounds laden with the spoils of 
the chase. Dried meat, tallow, and hides in vast 
quantities supplied the Hudson Bay Company to the 
north ; it was estimated that the annual slaughter of 
buffalo amounted to about 30,000.^^^ 

Warned by the dragoons that they had been tres- 
passing upon the territory of the United States, the 
half-breeds offered the pleas that they were ignorant 
of any wrong-doing and that they were but hunting 
upon the lands of their Indian parents. Through 
interpreters Captain Sumner learned that "they had 
followed this life from childhood, and knew no other, 
and they did not know what they could do if our 
government inhibited them at once from their old 
hunting grounds." 

The dragoon leader regarded this band of about 



CAPTAIN SUMNER AMONG THE SIOUX 119 

six hundred half-breeds as shrewd and sensible, but 
lacking in discipline and leadership. "It will be an 
extremely difficult thing to keep these people out of 
the country, if they should determine to disregard 
the order. . . . There seemed to be a strong dis- 
position among them to become citizens of the United 
States ; and I am much inclined to believe that many 
of them will become so, within a few years, without 
receiving any encouragement from our govern- 
ment." 

Many Sioux parties were met on returning to 
Traverse des Sioux where the detachment arrived 
on August 7, 1845. Sullen looks were sometimes 
directed at the soldiers, but the bands refrained 
from open violence. The Indian who had stolen 
Captain Allen's horses in the previous summer was 
arrested here and sent to Fort Snelling. Thus the 
Indians were to be shown that government horses 
"are inviolable, and that they cannot be touched by 
them without the certainty of punishment at the 
time, or afterwards." 

This was for Captains Allen and Sumner their 
last northerly campaign. At Traverse des Sioux 
the companies separated on August 11, 1845, and 
Company I returned to Fort Des Moines. Eight 
days later Captain Sumner's journey ended at Fort 
Atkinson. 



xn 



COLONEL KEAENY ON THE OEEGON TRAIL 
TO SOUTH PASS 1^2 

Twenty-two hundred miles measure the expedition 
of Colonel Kearny from Fort Leavenworth to the 
South Pass in the summer of 1845. His detachment, 
which consisted of about two hundred and fifty men, 
travelled during the outward march along the 
Oregon Trail, while the return journey was along 
the valley of the Arkansas River and the Santa Fe 
trace. Executed in ninety-nine days, the campaign 
was rightly described as having been made ''with 
extraordinary despatch and success." 

It was a well mounted and equipped regiment 
that departed from Fort Leavenworth on the clear 
morning of May 18th. The dragoons armed with 
carbines, pistols, and cartridges presented a genuine 
military appearance. Such officers as Cooke, Burg- 
win, Turner, and Moore had become veterans of 
many western campaigns. Two mountain howitzers 
and seventeen camp wagons stocked with supplies 
and provisions lumbered and rattled in the rear of 
the column. 

In just about a week Fort Leavenworth had been 
left one hundred and twenty miles behind. North- 



120 



KEARNY ON THE OREGON TRAIL 121 

westerly trails of other marclies guided Colonel 
Kearny as he moved along broken and picturesque 
grounds of the Missouri and then struck the open 
prairies. After crossing the elevated plain between 
two branches of the Blue River, the troops forded 
that stream and soon arrived on the Oregon Trail. 

This grand transcontinental highway was to wit- 
ness in 1845 the passage of about three thousand 
settlers bound for the Oregon country. On the 24th 
of May dim, white spots — the slowly-moving emi- 
grant wagons — were observed on the distant hori- 
zon. A nearer view revealed to the dragoons the 
light wagons drawn by oxen and laden with provi- 
sions and children, while scattered about were large 
droves of cattle browsing in the lush grass. Joel 
Palmer, a shrewd, young farmer from Indiana who 
had but recently been chosen captain of one of the 
emigrant companies, recorded that Colonel Kearny's 
troops had with them ''nineteen wagons drawn by 
mules, and drive fifty head of cattle and twenty-five 
head of sheep. ' ' 

Passing the caravan Colonel Kearny moved up 
the valley of the Little Blue Eiver. Other caravans 
were still in advance, and like swarms of locusts had 
consumed the grass at choice camping places. Each 
day after a march of twenty or twenty-five miles the 
dragoon mounts had to be tended ; the wagons were 
unloaded; the tents pitched; and the evening meal 
was cooked. In the morning the grass was cropped, 
so that to the coming emigrants the place could 
afford only an inhospitable welcome. 



122 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

The travellers next crossed the shallow waters 
and quicksands of streams whose banks were lined 
with cottonwoods, oaks, and pea vines. There were 
rolling prairies gashed by ravines and narrow val- 
leys, bold hills, and sand-gullies. The soldiers 
listened to the songs of birds and perhaps ate the 
wild turkey and antelope of this region. A midnight 
storm brought furious wind, lightning, thunder, and 
a rain which beat heavily against the canvas tents. 

Another emigrant caravan was passed and Cap- 
tain Cooke estimated the number of cattle at a 
thousand. In another party he counted thirty-one 
men, thirty-two women, sixty-one children, twenty- 
four wagons, and two hundred and twelve cattle. 
Men, women, and children often sickened on these 
long journeys and solitary graves, sometimes cov- 
ered with wolf tracks, began to mark the trail. 
Francis Parkman, the historian, passed over this 
route just a year later. On a grassy hill a piece of 
plank standing upright attracted his notice and 
there he read a brief story of sorrow on the prairies : 
Maey Ellis. Died May 7th, 1845, aged two months 

When the regiment encamped on the Platte 
Eiver on May 29th it had travelled about three hun- 
dred miles. The universal features of the valley 
were fresh green meadows, banks of sand, and some- 
times clumps of timber. ''Near us", wrote Joel 
Palmer who encamped near the spot two days later, 
''the Platte bottom is three and a half miles wide, 
covered with excellent grass, which our cattle ate 
greedily, being attracted by a salt like substance 



KEARNY ON THE OREGON TRAIL 123 

wliich covers the grass and lies sprinkled on the 
surface of the ground. We observed large herds of 
antelope in our travel of to-day. In the evening it 
rained very hard." 

As they filed along the south bank of the silent 
stream the troops felt the charm of springtime. 
Grass was more abundant and the islands which 
studded the river were covered with shrubs and trees 
from which came the songs of larks, blackbirds, 
curlews, and mocking-birds. But on a Sabbath day 
the dragoons observed a mournful procession of 
about fifty emigrant wagons. Leaving the regular 
trace far to their right the pioneers had come to a 
grassy hill where they conducted the funeral rites of 
a young infant — the toll of the Oregon Trail. 

Every morning the reveille roused the troops to 
another day's march. They invaded a colony of 
chattering prairie dogs, with staring screech owls 
and rattlesnakes for neighbors; greyhounds chased 
the antelopes through the tall grass; buffalo were 
pursued over the plains; and squalid wolves slunk 
over the hills and sandy ravines. Emigrant cara- 
vans, driving before them great herds of cattle, were 
passed again and again. In one place they found a 
discouraged party: the oxen had been frightened 
away, several persons were sick, and one poor 
woman was at the point of death. 

Thomas Fitzpatrick, the guide, led the column 
past the ** Forks of the Platte" and then along the 
south bank. "Now", described a dragoon captain 
on June 4th, ''we stop to water at a small running 



124 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

branch, the first we have seen ; it is without a tree ; a 
buffalo calf approaches, and is evidently trying to 
join our cattle ; but some men turn it off : there is the 
mother, which a hunter pursues up the steep hills; 
it is exhausted, but his horse refuses to go near ; he 
has fired — probably ineffectually : we pass on. At 
3 o'clock, we encamp at some ponds, in the middle 
of the bottom. Many horseloads of meat are brought 
in : the buffaloes — nearly all cows and calves, — are 
not yet fat." 

On June 6th the travellers waded through the 
shallow waters and quicksands of the South Platte 
and then continued northward until they saw the 
waters of the north fork. They encamped at Ash 
Hollow or Ash Creek, where there was a fine spring 
and wood and grass in abundance. The spot was 
well known. Captain Bonneville had passed it in 
1832 and seven years later A. Wislizenus, a German 
physician, had observed it. Fitzpatrick, the guide 
for the dragoons, recalled that he had visited the 
region with Lieutenant Fremont in 1842. In the 
hegira of 1845 thousands of emigrants hailed this 
little oasis with delight. 

Leagues and leagues were ridden in the next five 
days over a distance now crossed by the traveller in 
less than that number of hours. On June 9th 
Colonel Kearny met a flotilla of flat-boats laden with 
buffalo robes and other articles of Indian trade. 
The good-natured, patient boatmen were in the 
employ of the American Fur Company, and for 
weeks had been floating and pushing their rude ves- 



KEARNY ON THE OREGON TRAIL 125 

sels down the sluggish and shifting stream. The 
dragoon officers regarded these sun-burnt, athletic 
boatmen with a curious interest, and very likely 
Colonel Kearny received much information about 
distant Fort Laramie, the best grazing and camping 
places, the presence of Indians, and the number of 
emigrants on the route. 

The spectacle of Colonel Kearny's command af- 
forded these boatmen a welcome change from the 
monotony and arid desolation of the plain. Clouds 
of dust rose behind the dragoons as the black, grey, 
and chestnut colored mounts shogged over the dry 
plains. Sabres clanked and carbines glittered in 
the June sun. The travel-stained dragoons in ad- 
dition to their arms were equipped with blankets, 
great coats, picket ropes, and iron pins. It is very 
possible that the boatmen were allowed to taste the 
coffee and beans from the commissary wagon or to 
get a new supply of tobacco. 

Next the soldiers beheld Court House Rock, a 
mass of sand and clay, looming in the distant horizon 
like an ancient tower. Then they approached the 
fantastic form of Chimney Rock, which, declares a 
pioneer, "has the unpoetical appearance of a hay- 
stack, with a pole running far above its top. ' ' Near 
this a clear, cold spring refreshed men and animals. 

Hour after hour the column plodded along over 
a contorted wilderness of mounds, hills, cliffs, and 
rocks with here and there patches of sagebrush and 
cactus. Then they gazed upon Scott's Bluffs, a 
famous landmark on the trail and the Gibraltar of 



126 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

the prairies. On June 12th they encamped on the 
grassy meadows of Horse Creek, which had piled 
large quantities of cedar driftwood on its banks. 
The perspiring and panting mounts greedily drank 
its cool, clear water and then browsed or rested in 
the shady clumps of trees. About eighty miles dis- 
tant, Laramie Peak towered above the western 
horizon. 

Veteran of many western campaigns, Colonel 
Kearny could not be unaware of the importance of 
Fort Laramie as he viewed the outline of its rude 
structures. Thousands of emigrants rested here be- 
fore proceeding on their toilsome journey to the 
Oregon country. The American Fur Company own- 
ed the station which, far removed from law and 
society, submitted to its absolute rule. Roads con- 
nected it with branches of the Missouri, and from 
the south it received supplies from the Spanish 
settlements. A vast interior drained by the Platte 
and even by the Missouri rendered to it its tribute 
in beaver pelts and in the dried beef, tongues, and 
robes of thousands of buffalo. The wilderness trails 
of French-Canadian trappers, Indians, mountain- 
eers, and half-breeds crossed at Fort Laramie, and 
these alike acknowledged the commercial and in part 
the social domination of this western post. 

The quadrangular structure built of sun-dried 
bricks was located on the west side of the Laramie 
River about a mile above its mouth. Its walls about 
two feet thick and fifteen feet high were surmounted 
by palisades. The dwellings lining the walls and 



KEARNY ON THE OREGON TRAIL 127 

forming part of tliem were covered with mud roofs. 
There were two entrances and the interior of the 
fort was divided into two areas by a wall, on one 
side of which the dragoons observed an open square 
measuring about twenty-five yards. Along the walls 
of this square were ranged store-rooms, offices, a 
carpenter's and a blacksmith's shop, and dwellings. 
At the mouth of the Laramie River stood Fort 
Platte, a rival fur-trading station, which competed 
for the honor of welcoming Colonel Kearny's com- 
mand. 

Fort Laramie swarmed with a mongrel and un- 
kempt crowd of women and children whose jargon 
of mixed French, English, Spanish, and Indian 
sounded strange to Captain Cooke. ''Here," he 
observed, "barbarism and a traditional or half civ- 
ilization meet on neutral ground; but as a struggle, 
it is certain that the former has the best of it; al- 
though it has the disadvantage of being represented 
chiefly by females — both softening and impressible : 
but their credentials are ill-looks, dirty, and revolt- 
ingly coarse habits, etc. etc.; while the male repre- 
sentatives of civilization have the orthodox, although 
questionable aids of alcohol and gunpowder, avarice, 
lying, and lust." 

"The struggle is at close quarters," he added. 
"Civilization, furnishing house and clothing; bar- 
barism, children and fleas." 

Meanwhile fleet Indian runners had been sum- 
moning the various Sioux bands to a council. For 
two days the Indians had been gazing with awe and 



128 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

wonder upon Colonel Kearny's army. They were 
impressed by the uniform appearance of the troops, 
their fine horses, their carbines, and their sabres. 
And, probably, envious eyes were cast upon the 
wagons bearing the camp supplies and provisions 
and quantities of presents and tobacco. If any of 
these Indians recalled the visits of Captain Bonne- 
ville in 1832 or of Lieutenant Fremont in 1842, or 
of the many emigrant parties later, they felt that 
Colonel Kearny's cavalry regiment was the greatest 
army that had ever appeared at the post. 

Assembling on a plain between the two forts on 
June 16, 1845, this council perhaps reminded the 
veteran dragoon officers of similar scenes during 
their former western campaigns. About a thousand 
Sioux formed a large circle, in the center of which 
was the dragoon colonel with his officers and an 
escort. Two American flags and another supposed 
to be of Indian design fluttered in the breeze. Tall, 
fine-looking Sioux warriors with long hair and gar- 
ish garbs, were seated on chairs and benches facing 
the dragoons, while to the rear squaws and fright- 
ened children shivered in the cold, crisp air. 

The colonel's harangue was brief. He had been 
sent by their great father to march to the waters 
which flowed toward the setting sun and to open a 
road for the white men with their women, children, 
and cattle. The Sioux were forbidden to disturb 
them or their property under penalty of swift pun- 
ishment. The greatest enemy among them, he 
warned the Sioux, was whiskey. **It is contrary to 



KEARNY ON THE OREGON TRAIL 129 

the wishes of your great father that whiskey should 
be brought here, and I advise you, whenever you 
find it in your country, no matter in whose posses- 
sion, to spill it all on the ground. The ground may 
drink it without injury, but you cannot." 

Bull Tail, the principal chief, in a brief reply 
promised obedience and then directed a short har- 
angue at his followers. One of the braves likewise 
pledged the good behavior of his band and offered 
to carry Colonel Kearny's message through the 
Indian country. ''The country is now smoother, 
and the clouds higher." 

But more enjoyable to these Indians were Colonel 
Kearny's presents. A motley assortment was placed 
in the center of the circle and then distributed by 
seven warriors. Indian women chanted with joy 
when they grasped scarlet and blue cloth, beads, or 
red and green blankets; tobacco and knives were 
given; old men sang their delight and thanks; and 
young Sioux coxcombs admired themselves in cheap 
mirrors. Then, to the astonishment of the warriors 
and the terror of the Indian children, the roars of 
three shots from the mountain howitzers sounded 
down the Laramie valley after which the dragoons 
filed back to their camp. 

A difficult march of nearly three hundred miles 
still lay before the dragoons. Leaving Company A 
at the post and disregarding the drizzling rain. 
Colonel Kearny on June 17th resumed the westward 
advance along the North Platte. They passed Warm 
Spring and encamped near Horseshoe Creek. The 

10 



130 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

gloomy monotony of miles and miles of sagebrush 
was sometimes varied by the sight of straggling 
buffalo and antelope; hares and deer bounded over 
the stony ground; and the whirring flight of sage 
grouse startled the dragoons. The mornings were 
cool but at noon-days the horses glistened with sweat 
in the hot sun, and wagon fellies shrank and rattled 
in the dry, rare air. And when the long days ended, 
and after the evening meal had been cooked, and 
while the weather-beaten troops enjoyed their pipes 
or lounged about the mess-fires, they could perhaps 
listen to the howling of the wolves, the monotones of 
tree-frogs, or the quavering notes of owls. 

Long marches brought the column to Deer Creek, 
where a little forest yielded two fat deer to the dra- 
goon hunters. Only two grassy spots were seen 
during the march of twenty-seven miles on June 
20th; and in the grim desolation of the landscape 
they saw but few buffalo. A grizzly bear was chased 
by Captain Moore; another dragoon shot a hare; 
a huge rattlesnake threatened some of the hunters; 
and Captain Cooke supped on a sage grouse. On 
the next day the column splashed through the shallow 
waters of the North Platte and emerged on its north 
bank. 

Tired, hot, thirsty, and dusty, the dragoons were 
perhaps not very sensitive to the desolate majesty of 
the landscape on all sides. They filed around the 
red-rock precipices of the Eed Buttes. The dry, 
parched desert, covered with rocks, clay, and the 
ever present stunted sagebrush, lay in the full glare 



KEARNY ON THE OREGON TRAIL 131 

of the June sun. And at mid-day its heat and light 
glinted from the plain white sand until there came, 
toward evening, the lengthening shadows of the 
Black Hills. 

On Sunday, June 22, 1845, the travellers came to 
Independence Eock, a solitary mass of granite, and 
on this "Rocky Mountain album" they could still 
perhaps read the names of pioneers who, after in- 
scribing their names, had passed by on their way to 
Oregon. Then the column shaped its course along 
the Sweetwater River and a few hours later was 
filing through Devil's Gate — a narrow fissure which 
the pen of the sensitive Father De Smet four years 
before had preferred to call ''Heaven's Avenue". 

Hunting parties were sent out daily, and once 
they surprised a flock of mountain sheep which 
bounded away in terror over the rocky precipices. 
Buffalo trophies were brought to the camp; and 
among the sagebushes a grizzly bear with three cubs 
growled defiance at the dragoons. Captain Cooke 
mentioned sage grouse, young antelope, hares, rab- 
bits, and chattering magpies, while some of the 
soldiers drew fish from the clear waters of the 
riotous Sweetwater. 

Rarer and rarer became the atmosphere as the 
column wound or scrambled along amid the wild and 
disordered scenery of this stream. On its alluvial 
banks the dragoon mounts, after browsing in the blue 
grass and white clover, found shade in the groves of 
Cottonwood, beach, willow, aspen, and pine. Here 
and there roses and strawberries were about to 



132 :iLlRCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

bloom. But outside of tliis narrow strip they gazed 
upon the dreary wastes of the leaden-hued sagebrush. 
*'It is a desert", described Captain Cooke, "which 
supports but little of life; in much of it the rare 
Indian, the antelope, or gaunt buffalo, appear as 
weary travellers, who seek where they may be at 
rest." 

Thus amid picturesque scenes but also amid un- 
romantic hardships the first regiment of the United 
States dragoons skirted along the devious Sweet- 
water toward its sources late in June, 1845. At noon 
the sun beat down with glaring heat, and then the 
stream rose several inches from the melting snows 
of distant hills. They witnessed magnificent thun- 
der-storms, and were interested to see an old buffalo 
skull upon which the dry, rare atmosphere had per- 
fectly preserved some of the tissues. But at night 
dragoons shivered about their camps or under their 
blankets. On the morning of Friday, the twenty- 
seventh of June, ice was found in the tents. 

During the last three days of June the dragoons 
had progressed only twenty-seven miles through 
lofty solitudes where the sagebrush continued in its 
glory and where moss was disputing the possession 
of the hills with the prickly pear. They found wil- 
low bushes, a few antelopes, and some sage hens, 
while the horses recruited their strength in the fresh 
buffalo grass. On the 30th they came to the gap 
called South Pass, which formed the dividing ridge 
between the waters of the Pacific and the Atlantic. ^"^ 

Here at an elevation of over seven thousand feet 



KEARNY OX THE OREGON TRAIL 133 

the soldiers gazed upon the snow-capped ranges of 
the Wind River and Sweetwater Mountains. Thev 
observed the rise of the Sweetwater Eiver, which, 
meandering and hesitating, appeared undecided 
whether to turn toward the eastern or the western 
ocean. Kit Carson, Bonneville, Fremont, and thou- 
sands of pioneers had crossed this pass from the 
Mississippi Valley. Captain Cooke recorded that 
the pass lay in solitude, disturbed only by a sparrow 
and a killdeer, but Colonel Kearny was perhaps 
contemplating the oncoming caravans. He had over- 
taken on the Oregon Trail in this season about 850 
men, 475 women, 1000 children, 7000 cattle, -400 
horses and mules, and 460 wagons. ^'^ These, he 
must have felt, were to give added renown to the 
South Pass and to bear a part in the winning of the 
Far TVest. 



XIII 

FLYING CAMPS FROM SOUTH PASS TO 
FORT LEAVENWORTH^^s 

Only about a day was spent at the South Pass; 
and then for nearly two weeks in July the regiment 
retraced its trail back to Fort Laramie. Between 
long marches the companies rested in spots covered 
with currants, gooseberries, strawberries, and clover, 
where the mosquitoes attacked the men until the cool 
evenings chilled the insects. On July 3, 1845, a 
group of Oregon emigrants appeared and on the next 
day and at their request Colonel Kearny fired the 
mountain howitzer to celebrate the day. Then the 
travels led over rocks and sands that glared with the 
July heat. ' ' So much for the Fourth of July, — and 
a dry one!" concluded Captain Cooke. 

On July 5th the soldiers rode twenty-eight miles 
over soil ground fine by the emigrant trains. They 
passed Devil's Gate, Independence Rock, and Hot 
Spring Gap ; and drove buffalo from the good camp- 
ing places but gladly followed their trails. They met 
Joel Palmer, who noted that not a few of the dra- 
goons were ill. Colonel Kearny and others were 
seized with pains in the back, limbs, and head, suffer- 
ing an attack of fever. A day of rest, however, 
brought them relief. 

134 



FLYING CAMPS 135 



They found their old camping ground at Deer 
Creek converted into a cattle pen for the westerning 
emigrants. ''We killed a buffalo this afternoon ; and 
although scarcely a half-dozen have been seen from 
the column of march, since we struck the Platte, we 
have nearly subsisted on game; but one beef has 
been slaughtered since our departure from Fort 
Laramie. We had to cross the river to find grass 
for a camp : the sickness still prevails : it must be 
attributed to frequent wading for fuel, the hot suns, 
and the cold nights : the men were generally allowed 
to leave their cloaks at Laramie." After riding 
thirty miles on July 13th the troops were glad to 
encamp on the Laramie River several miles below 
its mouth. Baggage wagons were sent to the fort to 
bring supplies, and early the next day the procession 
was moving in a tortuous route toward a point which 
lay on the south fork of the Platte about one hundred 
and thirty miles due southward. 

Skirting along the Chugwater River they came to 
some Cheyenne lodges. The Colonel addressed these 
Lidians and then distributed liberal presents which 
were accepted by the patriarch of the band. The 
troopers were greatly interested in watching a group 
of Indian girls engaged in ornamenting a buffalo 
robe. But a certain red-haired bachelor captain 
wearing spectacles created a storm of merriment and 
laughter among the artless Indian maidens, who be- 
lieved that the glasses enabled the wearer to gaze 
through opaque bodies! 

The travellers passed two branches of Horse 



136 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Creek, the headwaters of Pole Creek, and then moved 
about forty miles down Crow Creek.^'*^ It was a 
land of wide spaces in which the heat waves quivered 
in the hot July air. Four hunters lost themselves 
and Colonel Kearny ordered the howitzers to be 
fired and rockets to be sent up at night. 

Trackless wastes of hills, plains, and sandy 
ravines wearied the eyes of the soldiers, who saw 
only a few elk, a badger, three buffalo, and an ante- 
lope. Fuel became scarce and they cooked their 
meals over burning bo is de vache. Far in the dis- 
tance they admired Long's Peak towering above the 
other mountains and sometimes blending with the 
surrounding clouds. They filed past a grave marked 
by the white skeleton of a buffalo and a nearby heap 
of staring horse's skulls. For several miles the 
troops rode down the Cache la Poudre Kiver and 
then forded the south fork of the Platte. 

Urging their horses southward toward the Arkan- 
sas River the dragoons moved down the right bank 
of the South Platte and passed the ruins of some old 
adobe trading houses. The country was a prairie, 
desolate and devoid of life, over which the hot July 
winds blew from the south. Long's Peak formed an 
angle of sixty degrees, and Pike's Peak was begin- 
ning to rise in the southern horizon. ''To-day", 
wrote a dragoon captain on July 23rd, "we still fol- 
lowed up Cherry Creek, or its dry sands; but to- 
wards noon, it came running to meet us; and there 
were the patrommiic cherries, — or rather the 
bushes; and of the sort called choke-cherries. We 



FLYING CAMPS 137 



are again encamped on it ; but the highland is before 
us, and adorned, as the nearer hills, with pines ; and 
with grass too; and the prospect is more homelike 
than any other, since we left the Little Blue, near 
the Missouri line. ' ' 

Long, dreary marches were forgotten when the 
troops came to the grassy slopes, shrubs, and rose- 
bushes of Cherry Creek; and there under firs and 
oaks they retreated from the heat and glare of the 
plains. In riding thirty-one miles on July 25th 
Colonel Kearny crossed the highland between the 
Arkansas and the South Platte rivers, passed Pike's 
Peak about fifteen miles distant, and in the evening 
pitched the dragoon tents on the banks of Fountain 
Creek, a stream skirted by groves, lush blue grass, 
and rushes. 

For seventeen miles the route of the column lay 
along this stream. Then for sixteen miles the horses 
moved over plains of cactus and Spanish bayonet. 
Colonies of noisy prairie-dogs barked at them, but 
they saw no game. The troops were following a 
commercial highway over which gunpowder, whis- 
key, buffalo robes and tongues passed from trading- 
post to trading-post. Under a broiling sun the 
regiment marched twenty-two miles on July 27th 
along the Arkansas River; an equal distance was 
covered on the next day ; and on the 29th the sight of 
a distant American flag indicated the presence of 
Bent's Fork. 

Three shots from the post's swivel gun sounded a 
noisy salute to the regiment of dragoons, and the 



138 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

proprietors, Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain, ex- 
tended to Colonel Kearny and liis suite a hospitable 
welcome at the sally-port. The main body of the 
regiment, however, marched a mile or two lower 
down the stream and encamped on a grassy meadow. 
The soldiers observed a structure which a traveller 
described in 1839 as a parallelogram one hundred 
and fifty feet by one hundred feet, with adobe walls 
six or seven feet in thickness, and seventeen or 
eighteen feet in height.^'" 

The commerce of the prairies gave to Bent's 
Fort, founded in about 1829, a far-flung renown 
which had been known to some of the dragoon 
officers for years. Conestoga wagons from Missouri 
— six hundred miles away — brought hardwares, 
calicoes, and dry goods, or continued on to Santa Fe. 
From the Mexican city of Taos, about one hundred 
and fifty miles distant, the post received sugar, 
flour, bread, and beans. Here peltries and buffalo 
robes gathered by roving bands of Camanches and 
Cheyennes were collected and then laboriously trans- 
ported to St. Louis. Prairie travellers, such as 
Fremont and Farnham, had appreciated the char- 
acter of this trade as well as the hospitality of the 
post. 

For the first time in weeks the dragoon officers 
partook of an excellent dinner served in the hos- 
pitable quarters of Bent and St. Vrain. They were 
now able to observe the organization and equipment 
of this wilderness post. Banged about the enclosure 
they saw the servants ' quarters, the storehouses, the 
proprietor's lodgings, and the wagon house. The 



FLYING CAMPS 139 



regiment had arrived with rations for only one day, 
and so the commissary at once began to search for 
the provisions which had been sent to Bent's Fort 
nearly two years before. The provisions, including 
the hard bread and the rice, were found in a state of 
perfect preservation. 

A group of a dozen swarthy Mexicans who were 
on their way to trade with the Cheyennes were 
sharply questioned by the soldiers. Another Mex- 
ican had transported on his mule a bag of wheat 
from Taos; and on all sides they saw greasy Mex- 
icans chattering in the Spanish tongue. ''But", 
wrote a dragoon, "with English, French, and Indian 
additions and combinations, there is no slight con- 
fusion of tongues." With these the dragoons car- 
ried on a brisk trade to dispose of old worn-out 
horses for ponies and mules ; and one officer, receiv- 
ing a present of a pair of antelopes, purchased a 
mule and a cart for their transportation. Six hun- 
dred miles distant lay Fort Leavenworth. 

For the first two weeks of August little of note 
took place as the regiment descended the Arkansas 
Eiver. Colonel Kearny met a large band of Apaches 
— tall, handsome men, well-mounted and decorated 
with steel and silver ornaments. Another officer 
observed that no language could conceal an Indian's 
hunger. Arriving at Chouteau's Island on August 
3, 1845,^'^^ Captain Cooke recalled that here he had 
helped to repel an attack of about four hundred 
Indians exactly sixteen years before. 

An unromantic but not uninteresting routine ap- 



140 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

pears in the story of these flying camps of the First 
United States Dragoons. A noisy trumpet at about 
four o'clock gave the summons for another day's 
work. Inspection followed, and then a ''stable call" 
for the horses which gladly welcomed the prospect 
of removal to fresh grass. Steaming coffee, some 
unleavened cakes baked over night against a board 
or a spade, the usual boiled or fried buffalo beef, and 
occasionally a bit of fried pork, constituted the 
breakfasts on this march. 

All baggage was then collected and packed in the 
wagons. In a quarter of an hour every trooper had 
bridled and saddled his mount and was prepared to 
travel many miles through the heat and dust of the 
plains. And as he shogged along there were hopes, 
fears, and disappointments when he looked forward 
for wood, grass, water, or shade. "In the heat of 
the day, if there be water," describes a captain, ''we 
wait wearily, generally unshaded, about three- 
fourths of an hour, for horses to rest and take a 
luncheon of grass, and for the baggage to come up. ' ' 

Wlien Colonel Kearny camped his dusty com- 
rades towards evening the horses were first tended. 
The canvas tents rose on the plain, and then fol- 
lowed an amusing and sometimes unpleasantly ex- 
citing scramble for fuel. The baggage was unloaded 
as soon as it arrived; the camp-fires were lit; per- 
haps a beef was slaughtered or some buffalo meat 
brought in by the hunters; provisions were issued; 
and the cooks prepared the evening meal. 

The coarse and simple food was eaten with a 



FLYING CAMPS 141 



relish. The soldiers then lounged about the camp, 
smoking their pipes or admiring the August sunsets 
or moonlight scenery, while merry jests and songs 
doubtless floated on the night air. Then the sen- 
tinels kept their lonely watches until relieved by 
another morning bugle. 

Scenes familiar to some of the men greeted the 
detachment when on August 8th it struck the main 
route of the Santa Fe Trail, and passed occasional 
merchant caravans which gave out welcome news 
from the States. The troops hurried past the Cimar- 
ron Crossing, the Caches, Coon Creek, Pawnee Fork, 
and Ash Creek. Near Walnut Creek the dragoon 
hunters found a herd of nearly a thousand buffalo, 
and when the hunt was ended about 800 pounds of 
meat were added to the commissary wagon. 

Through the clouds of dust and the scorching 
heat the perspiring men and animals pushed on. 
Spurred forward by the prospect of reaching home, 
they gave less notice to the old stations on the trace 
and soon crossed the Oregon Trail. The steeds too 
became animated with memories as the houses, 
stables, and green trees of Fort Leavenworth ap- 
peared to view. At dusk on August 24, 1845, the 
regiment filed through the gate and then formed at 
attention on the parade ground. There was a brief, 
eager suspense as the tired troops heard a few words 
of commendation from the dragoon colonel. ' ' Great 
credit", he reported later, "is due to the officers and 
enlisted men who composed this command. They 
have all proven themselves what their ambition is to 
be — good soldiers." 



XIV 

WITH THE ''ARMY OF THE WEST''^^^ 

New duties faced the first regiment of dragoons in 
1846 after war was declared against Mexico on May 
12tli. Recruiting, the call for volunteers, the per- 
fection of military plans, the appointment of officers, 
and the equipment of regiments constituted the 
varied activities of the military department of the 
government. Compelled for a time to abandon their 
former functions of western campaigning and fron- 
tier defense, the dragoons became absorbed in the 
greater tasks of sharing in a foreign war. 
\/ Three hundred dragoons became the nucleus for 

the "Army of the West" at Fort Leavenworth where 
the force was organized by Colonel Kearny and his 
dragoon officers. Responding to the call of the Gov- 
ernor of Missouri, company after company appeared 
at Fort Leavenworth during June of 1846 and were 
lettered in the order of arrival. Eight companies 
of mounted volunteers, two companies of artillery, 
and another company of St. Louis rangers com- 
pleted the force. When the mustering in was com- 
pleted by Captain James Allen and other officers the 
1658 men were further prepared for the work of con- 
quering the distant provinces of New Mexico and 

142 



ARMY OF THE WEST 143 

California. Twelve six-pounders and four twelve- 
pound howitzers were added to the regimental equip- 
ment, the commissary wagons were loaded and 
scores of citizens came to see Colonel Kearny's army 
and to bid their sons, brothers, or fathers farewell. 
Late in June, 1846, detached columns of the 
''Army of the West" began to leave Fort Leaven- 
worth and to file across the plains toward Fort Bent, 
about five hundred and sixty miles distant, where the 
army was to reassemble. Two companies of volun- 
teers and two of dragoons were despatched early to 
pursue some Mexican caravans bound for Santa Fe. 
About a hundred wagons freighted with army provi- 
sions followed, and then the annual merchant cara- 
van of four hundred and fourteen wagons heavily 
loaded with dry goods for the Mexican markets be- 
gan the journey. Next Colonel Kearny with detach- 
ments of dragoons and volunteers brought' up the 
rear. Such a long line of march, in which the various 
detachments were many miles apart, promised to 
facilitate the procuring of fuel, water, and grass 
along the route. 

Buoyant hopes and amusing scenes at first dis- 
pelled visions of the hardships and toil which lay 
before the troops. The army mules refused to ad- 
vance and the dragoon horses needed much urging 
to pull the heavy brass six-pounders and the how- 
itzers. ''Amidst the fluttering of banners," wrote a '^ 
volunteer, "the sounding of the bugles, the rattling 
of artillery, the clattering of sabres, and cooking 
utensils, some of the horses took fright and scamp- 



144 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

ered, pell-mell, with rider and arms, over the wide 
prairie. Rider, arms and accoutrements, saddles 
and saddle-bags, tin-cups, and coffee-pots, were 
sometimes left far behind in the chase." 

The forward movement of about forty-three miles 
brought the squadrons to the Santa Fe road and the 
familiar country witnessed by the dragoons was 
then in the full bloom of summer. They passed 
groves of oak, and near Stranger River the woods 
were skirted by hazel, plum trees, and grape vines ; 
prairie chickens and quail whirred away in alarm. 
They crossed the Kansas River in boats; were at- 
tacked by swarms of mosquitoes and then consoled 
by a serenade of hooting owls; and in another day 
they pitched their tents on Wakarusa Creek. 

Travelling many miles in advance of the main 
body of the army the dragoon detachments under 
Captains Moore and Burgwin and Lieutenant Noble 
rode past familiar stations on the Santa Fe road: 
110 Mile Creek, Big John Spring, Diamond Spring, 
and Cottonwood Creek were again the principal 
camping places. When the Arkansas River was 
reached the distance measured two hundred and 
fifty-three miles from Fort Leavenworth. Far be- 
hind several companies under Colonel Kearny 
formed the rear of the marching line. 

By this time the ''Army of the West" stretched 
over a distance of perhaps one hundred miles on the 
Santa Fe road. An observer might have seen droves 
of cattle, company after company of volunteers, 
scores of wagons stocked with flour, pork, and salt, 



ARMY OF THE WEST 145 

and well-mounted dragoons whose guns and sabres 
glinted in the sun. At other places there were noisy 
drivers whose wagons carried blankets, tents, and 
ammunition. And from early morning until late at 
night there could be heard the tramp of horses, the 
jingling of spurs, and the clanking of sabres. 

A topographical engineer, however, records other 
scenes : the early morning dew was quickly dispelled 
by the broiling July sun; swarms of grasshoppers 
and crickets hummed in the prairie grass over which 
gaudy butterflies flitted among the flowers; gnats, 
horse-flies, and mosquitoes were allied to torment; 
rattlesnakes were killed in camp and the blow-flies 
infested the blankets; there were plover, crows, 
hawks, doves, thrushes, kingbirds, grouse, and 
screaming king-fishers; wallows and hois de vache 
indicated old buffalo haunts ; and in the evening were 
heard the dismal howls of the sentinel wolves. 

For three weeks the invading column skirted 
along the Arkansas River, and the detachments set- 
tled into the routine monotony of prairie travel. 
They passed over buffalo grass, sand hills, and bar- 
ren ridges parched by the summer heat. Although 
the dragoons were far in advance of the main army, 
Lieutenant J. W. Abert, an engineer, described from 
day to day the scenes and experiences as the army 
marched along the trail. On Saturday, July 11th, 
the start was made at half past three in the morning 
and on the next day the encampment was near Cow 
Creek. On July 19th the stop was at Jackson Grove. 
Dusky wolves prowled about the camps and great 

11 



i^ 



146 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

herds of buffalo were common sights. Another 
soldier recorded that the men ''killed plenty of buf- 
falo, elk, antelope and deer, and brought in quantities 
of the grape plum, ripe and of excellent flavor." 

''This day", writes Lieutenant Abert on July 
20th, "we made a march of 31 j^ miles, passing along 
the top of a barren ridge, between one and two miles 
from the river. Nothing was to be seen but the curly 
buffalo grass, now parched by the summer's heat. 
The sun poured down his rays most lavishly; the 
men all dismounted and walked, in order to rest and 
to relieve themselves from the singular sensation 
produced by the heat. First one and then another of 
the party became ill, and several were seized with a 
severe vomiting." 

The last days of July, 1846, enabled the regiment 
to advance about one hundred and seventy-five miles 
along the north bank of the Arkansas River, in an 
almost voiceless desolation of sagebrush, sand hills, 
and prairie. Camp rumors became more frequent 
when the enemy's country was finally invaded; the 
sick list increased daily; and many horses failed and 
were devoured by the wolves. Three Mexican spies 
were captured, and after having them conducted 
through the entire camp Colonel Kearny allowed 
them to retire to Santa Fe to report all that they had 
seen. Three dragoon detachments which had been 
vainly pursuing the Mexican traders rejoined the 
main army on July 30th. 

When the army encamped near Bent's Fort late 
in July the dragoons could recall that exactly a year 



A'RMY OF THE WEST 147 

before they had visited the post. A respite of three 
days was allowed and a thousand horses closely 
guarded were turned loose to recuperate upon the 
prairies. Parkman, the historian, visited the post a 
few weeks later and recorded that for miles around 
the grass had been cropped by the horses of Colonel 
Kearny's army. ''It seemed as if a swarm of locusts 
had invaded the country. ' ' ^^^ The Colonel fearing a 
scarcity of provisions reduced the soldier's daily 
ration to half a pound of flour and three-eighths of a 
pound of pork. "This", wrote a volunteer, "de- 
prived us of coffee, sugar, salt, rice, &c., which had 
previously helped to make our provisions palatable. 
Now, our meals will consist of dough, if a simple 
mixture of flour and water deserves that name, fried 
in grease, or else what we used to call flapjacks, this 
being a thin variation of the aforesaid dough, poured 
into a hot frying-pan." 

From the tops of the houses Mexican girls and 
Indian squaws watched Colonel Kearny's army de- 
part for the conquest of Santa Fe while the Amer- 
ican flag at the post was raised in salute to the 
passing columns. Leaving behind the sick teamsters, 
dragoons, and volunteers, the regiment moved up 
Timpas Creek and soon crossed Purgatory River. 
Disease, insufficient food, and the burning sun 
brought suffering enough. "Almost every day", 
said a private, "some dragoon or volunteer, trader, 
teamster, or amateur, who had set out upon the 
expedition buoyant with life and flattered with hopes 
of future usefulness, actuated by a laudable desire 



148 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

to serve his country, found a grave on the solitary 
plains. ' ' 

The trail of the regiment was marked by about 
fifteen camps on the way from Bent's Fort to Santa 
Fe. Camp 36 on August 7 was at an altitude of 7700 
feet. On the next day Captain Sumner drilled the 
dragoons and made an imposing show for the volun- 
teers. On the 11th the dragoons led the army across 
valleys and variegated scenes for a distance of 
thirty-two miles and then encamped on the Ocate 
River. A few days later messengers arrived from 
Fort Leavenworth bringing newspapers, letters, and 
the report that Colonel Kearny had been promoted 
to the rank of a brigadier general on June 30th. 

Descending the valley of Moro (now Coyote) 
Creek the soldiers beheld the first settlements seen 
on a march of 775 miles. Mistaking the pine stakes 
of a distant corral for Mexicans, the dragoons were 
sadly disappointed not to enjoy a fight or a chase. 
American residents then visited the troops and a 
refugee from Santa Fe warned the dragoon com- 
mander that General Manuel Armijo was fortifying 
a pass fifteen miles from that city. On July 15th the 
soldiers entered the little village of Vegas (Las 
Vegas) and heard of a Mexican force of six hundred 
men who were guarding a pass two miles distant. 
The trumpeters sounded ''to horse", the colors were 
unfurled, the drooping nags revived, and then the 
gorge was charged. But not a person was to be 
seen and the soldiers, again disappointed, resumed 
the monotonous march toward Santa Fe. 



ARMY OF THE WEST 149 

Thus day after day rumor and exaggeration came 
into the American camp, and the reports increased 
as the column moved forward. The soldiery heard 
that two thousand Mexicans were guarding the pass 
and later a messenger declared that ''Armijo and 
his troops have gone to hell, and the Canon is all 
clear." On August 17th the command halted at 
Pecos, an ancient village formerly fortified, which 
was about thirty miles from Santa Fe. New horses 
and mules were ordered for the artillery and the 
entire army braced itself for the final dash to the 
Mexican city. 

To the volunteers and the dragoons accustomed 
for weeks to the dreary march across the plains the 
sight of the Mexican settlements must have been 
refreshing. Corn fields and gardens, droves of 
swine, herds of cattle, and flocks of sheep and goats 
evidenced the prosperity among the natives. As the 
army passed village after village, men, women, boys, 
and girls came to the regiment to sell vegetables, 
bread, milk, cheese, fruits, pepper, and chickens. In 
a short time these natives had drained most of the 
specie from the pockets of the American soldiers. 

All opposition to the advance of the army van- 
ished as the columns neared Santa Fe and promises 
of a friendly reception came from the acting gov- 
ernor, Juan B. Vigil. On August 18, 1846, General 
Kearny's troops entered the city; the American flag 
was raised; and a salute of thirteen guns echoed 
down the canyon. On the next day General Kearny 
assembled the people and announced to them that 



150 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

they were now living under the American rule. 
Thus without firing a shot, and after a fifty days' 
march of nearly nine hundred miles, an extensive 
province containing perhaps 100,000 people passed 
into the possession of the United States. 



XV 

THE CAMPAIGN TO CALIFORNIA 

Califoknia next became the goal of General Kearny 
in his western campaigns. Late in 1846 he com- 
menced his thousand-mile march from Santa Fe to 
San Diego for the purpose of capturing another 
province. ^^^ His force of about a hundred dragoons, 
detached from the "Army of the West", cooperated 
with the American force on the Pacific coast and 
thereby added another chapter of campaigns to the 
history of the First Regiment of United States 
Dragoons. 

After setting up the machinery of the new Amer- 
ican government and making several excursions 
from Santa Fe to distant parts of the province, on 
September 25, 1846, General Kearny with three hun- 
dred dragoons began the long journey to California. 
The whole command was mounted on mules, while 
ox-teams dragged the heavy mountain howitzers and 
the ammunition and supply wagons. Lieutenant 
Emory, whose detachment of topographical engi- 
neers accompanied the dragoons, kept a daily jour- 
nal of the scenery, the geologj^, the meteorology^, and 
the events along the course. 

The Rio Grande River having been reached in 

151 



152 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

about three days, General Kearny for over two 
weeks followed this twisting stream for a distance 
of about two hundred and twenty miles. At the 
little Mexican village of Zandia the troops engaged 
in a brisk trade in horses; and at Albuquerque 
Lieutenant Emory found the wife of Governor 
Manuel Armijo sitting on an ottoman, smoking. Re- 
ports of Navajo uprisings came to the camp; strag- 
gling villages were passed; and the troops flushed 
myriads of brant, geese, and crane in their daily 
descent of the stream. 

Ten miles below Socorro the dragoon column met 
Kit Carson returning from California bearing 
despatches to Washington which described the recent 
conquest of that province by Fremont and Commo- 
dore Stockton. ''The general told him", wrote a 
dragoon captain, "he would relieve him of all re- 
sponsibility, and place the mail in the hands of a 
safe person, to carry it on ; he finally consented, and 
turned his face to the west again, just as he was on 
the eve of entering the settlements, after his arduous 
trip, and when he had set his hopes on seeing his 
family. It requires a brave man to give up his pri- 
vate feelings thus for the public good ; but Carson is 
one such ! honor to him for it ! " 

The General then issued an order to reduce the 
command to one hundred men, and companies B, G, 
and I were led back to Santa Fe. The best wagons 
and the finest teams were surrendered for the toil- 
some trip to the Far West. Thomas Fitzpatrick 
then left for Washington and Carson retraced his 



CAMPAIGN TO CALIFORNIA 153 

steps to California. Dragoon comrades parted here, 
little knowing that some would never meet again and 
that the military careers of some would end with 
honor in California, New Mexico, or at Cerro Gordo. 

The mule teams toiled down the pathless valley 
of the Rio Grande dragging the ^vagons and the two 
howitzers. Carson insisted that the command could 
not reach Los Angeles in four months. Then after 
the command encamped, a messenger was sent to 
order Major Sumner to send back pack saddles and 
to return for the horses. ''Marched at a quarter 
before 9," wrote a dragoon on October 14th, ''and 
got off pretty well, as we had almost a pack for 
every person ; all were busy to the hour of starting, 
from the general down; but our pack-saddles were 
bad and our lash ropes worse; with a few cases of 
kicking and no accidents, w^e made our march down 
the river, (17 miles,)". 

Forsaking the Rio Grande River at last, the de- 
tachment veered toward the southwest and moved 
over a tortuous course of valleys, mountains, 
streams, and stunted timber. Marches began at 
eight in the morning and throughout the day Kit 
Carson guided the mules and the howitzer teams. 
Apaches came to camp, but a dragoon officer re- 
marked that "trading mules is dull work." On 
October 20, 1846, General Kearny's force arrived at 
the banks of the Gila River. 

For a month the little detachment travelled down 
the valley of this stream for a distance of about four 
hundred and fifty miles. The routes were difficult in 



154 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

the extreme: the mules stumbled up and down the 
ascents on insecure footings ; deep gullies gashed the 
banks of the stream ; and the troops wound through 
canyons, over mountains, and then passed under 
overhanging cliffs. ''The whole days journey", 
wrote Lieutenant Emory on November 8th, "was 
through a canyon, and the river was crossed twelve 
or fifteen times. The sand was deep, and occasion- 
ally the trail was much obstructed by pebbles of 
paving-stone. The willow grew so densely in many 
places as to stop our progress, and oblige us to look 
for spots less thickly overgrown, through which we 
could break. ' ' 

Soldiers looked upon the drear remains of old 
Indian villages. The mules dragging the howitzers 
\ mounted on wheels ten feet in circumference were 
failing fast. Apaches visited the dragoon camps to 
barter, to beg, and to steal. Kit Carson remarked 
that he "would not trust one of them." The troops 
chased wild hogs, feasted on teal and quail, flushed 
swarms of geese and turkeys, and now and then 
brought down mountain sheep and deer. Taran- 
tulas, scorgions, and lizards lurked among the rocks 
and the sagebrush. Mirages further distorted the 
landscape of the rugged horizon. Thus day by day 
and amid such scenes the column moved toward the 
West. 

Arriving at the junction of the Gila and the 
Colorado rivers on about November 22nd, General 
Kearny discovered the fresh tracks of horses, and 
soon a squad of troops found a party of Mexicans 



CAMPAIGN TO CALIFORNIA 155 

with four or five hundred horses on their way to 
Sonora. From the Mexicans were purchased a num- 
ber of wild horses which were intended to replace 
the old worn mounts destined soon to die on the 
desert. On November 25th the troops, still guided 
by Kit Carson, forded the chilly waters of the Colo- 
rado, and emerged in what is now the State of 
California. 

Barrenness and desolation reigned supreme 
throughout the miles travelled in the next week. 
Day after day the dragoon horses and mules wade<l 
through sands covered with soft mussel shells and 
the vegetation of the desert. Some of the worn and 
jaded animals were left behind to die of thirst and 
hunger. On a hot November day the animals in- 
flated with water and rushes gave way by scores. 
''It was a feast day for the wolves, which followed 
in packs close on our tract, seizing our deserted 
brutes and making the air resound with their howls 
as they battled for the carcasses." 

But the ragged blue-coats pushed on though the 
sharp thorns had reduced the soldiers to almost bare 
legs. The command on November 30th was over 
eighteen hundred miles from Fort Leavenworth; 
rations were exhausted and an entire horse was con- 
sumed with great relish. "Our men were inspected 
to-day," wrote Captain Johnston. ''Poor fellows! 
they are well nigh naked — some of them barefoot 
— a sorry looking set. A dandy would think that, in 
those swarthy, sun-burnt faces, a lover of his country 
will see no signs of quailing. ' ' 



156 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Hungry and exhausted the force arrived at 
Warner's ranch on December 2, 1846; and there 
seven men at a single meal ate a fat, full grown 
sheep. Fifteen miles beyond, General Kearny came 
to San Isabel, the ranch of an Englishman named 
Edward Stokes, who reported that San Diego was in 
the possession of Commodore Stockton's naval 
force. On the 5th the dragoons came to Santa 
Maria, another ranch, where they were met by a de- 
tachment of thirty-nine men from San Diego. Nine 
miles distant, reported these men, a force of Mex- 
icans was encamped; and so Lieutenant Hammond's 
party was sent ahead to reconnoitre. 

In a short time the enemy was discovered and 
located at San Pascual, an old Indian village. At 
about two o'clock on the morning of December 6, 
1846, the call to horse was sounded, and a motley 
column of about one hundred and sixty men moved 
toward the camp of Captain Andres Pico. A driz- 
zling rain had soaked the men's clothing, and the 
troops shivered in the cold. Mules and horses were 
stiff and worn from the long journey, or were un- 
broken and unmanageable. Captain Johnston's 
twelve troops formed the advance guard, while the 
forces of Captain Moore, Lieutenant Hammond, and 
Captains Archibald H. Gillespie and Gibson fol- 
lowed. Farther in the rear two howitzers, a field 
piece, and the baggage carts jolted over the uneven 
ground. 

A sharp engagement of about ten minutes ensued. 
After the first musket fire came a fight at close 



CAMPAIGN TO CALIFORNIA 157 

range. ''It was sabre against lance — sabres and 
clubbed guns in the hands of dragoons and volun- 
teers mounted on stupid mules or half-broken horses 
against lances, the enemy's favorite weapons, in the 
hands of the world 's most skilful horsemen. ' ' When 
the two howitzers were brought up the enemy began 
to flee, but the dragoons could not follow up the pur- 
suit. The mules dragging one of the howitzers took 
sudden flight and dashed wildly toward the retreat- 
ing enemy who soon captured the man in charge of 
the gun. 

About eighteen men were killed and about the 
same number were wounded. Captain Johnston, 
who just a week before had declared that the men 
"will be ready for their hour when it comes", was 
killed by a rifle-ball.^^^ A Mexican lance thrust 
ended the life of Captain Moore, and Lieutenant 
Hammond likewise died from the effects of such a 
Mexican weapon. General Kearny was wounded in 
two places, and Captain Gibson in three places. 
Others received from two to ten lance wounds, 
mostly when unhorsed and incapable of resistance. 

That night the Americans encamped on the battle 
ground of San Pascual.^^^ "When night closed in," 
wrote a lieutenant, "the bodies of the dead were 
buried under a willow to the east of our camp, with 
no other accompaniment than the howling of myriads 
of wolves, attracted by the smell. Thus were put to 
rest together, and forever, a band of brave and 
heroic men. The long march of 2,000 miles had 
brought our little command, both officers and men to 



158 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

know each other well. Community of hardships, 
dangers, and privations, had produced relations of 
mutual regard which caused their loss to sink deeply 
in our memories." 

Sleep was impossible that night, in spite of the 
fatigues of the day. The night air was cold and 
damp and the ground was covered with cacti. The 
thoughts of Sergeant Thomas Cox, who was already 
in the agonies of death, must have gone back to Fort 
Leavenworth where a few months before he had left 
his bride. Provisions were exhausted, mules were 
worn out, horses were dead, and the dragoons, re- 
duced in numbers, were ragged, exhausted, and 
emaciated. ''Day dawned on the most tattered and 
ill-fed detachment of men that ever the United States 
mustered under her colors." 

The depleted command moved on, bearing the 
wounded in ambulances which grated on the ground. 
Arriving at the San Bernardo ranch the soldiers 
watered their horses and killed some chickens for 
their sick comrades. In a skirmish a squad of sol- 
diers drove thirty or forty Mexicans from a hill 
where they had been disputing General Kearny's 
advance. In this movement the Americans lost their 
cattle and the next day were compelled to kill the 
fattest mules for meat. Fearing to advance further. 
General Kearny halted ; and on the night of Decem- 
ber 8, 1846, Lieutenant Beale, Kit Carson, and an 
Indian, at the risk of their lives volunteered to go to 
San Diego, twenty-nine miles distant, to secure re- 
inforcements. 



CAMPAIGN TO CALIFORNIA 159 

Two days later the Mexicans attempted to stam- 
pede the dragoon animals by driving towards them 
a band of wild horses. The soldiers, however, dex- 
terously turned off the animals, killing two or three 
of the fattest on which the command feasted. That 
night Lieutenant Gray arrived from San Diego with 
one hundred tars and eighty marines who, for the 
rest of the night distributed provisions and clothing 
to the ragged and hungry dragoons. 

Continuing the march General Kearny appropri- 
ated a herd of cattle abandoned by the enemy. Else- 
where the troops found and confiscated sheep, goats, 
turkeys, chickens, and casks of wine. On December 
12, 1846, they came in view of the adobe houses at 
San Diego and the post which overlooked the sur- 
rounding wastes. To the west lay the Pacific Ocean 
and along a promontory the troops observed the 
frigate ''Congress" and the sloop ''Portsmouth". 
Under torrents of rain the dragoons finished their 
march of nineteen hundred miles from Fort Leaven- 
worth. 

Preparations for the final conquest of the south- 
ern part of California soon followed. On December 
29, 1846, a conglomerate regiment consisting of 
about sixty dragoons, sailors, marines, and volun- 
teers — in all 561 men — left San Diego. The regi- 
ment passed ranches and one mission after another 
without resistance, until the river San Gabriel was 
reached on January 8, 1847, when a shower of grape 
and round shot splashed around the troops as they 
crossed the stream. A shot from a field gun there- 



160 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

upon shattered the best gun of the Californians, 
who retreated among the nearby hills. 

When morning came the enemy was nowhere to 
be seen. The march was again continued ; once more 
the troops halted to scatter the Mexican force by 
rounds of grape shot from the American artillery. 
On the 10th General Kearny, Commodore Stockton, 
and Captain Archibald Gillespie entered Los 
Angeles. Three days later the dragoons saw the 
signing of a treaty of submission which ended their 
share in the conquest of the province of Calif ornia.^^* 



XVI 

MAJOR WOODS' VISIT TO THE RED RIVER 
OF THE NORTH 

A MAECH of about five hundred miles across the 
present States of Minnesota and North Dakota 
northwestwardly from Fort Snelling to Pembina on 
the Red River of the North constituted the activities 
of a company of dragoons in the summer of 1849,^*^ 
Major Samuel Woods in command of about forty 
dragoons had been directed to make a special exam- 
ination of the Red River of the North. His orders 
directed him to march as far north as the boundary 
of the United States, to advise with respect to the 
best location of a military post, and to collect infor- 
mation on the health, subsistence, and the facilities 
of building and access. *'You will also collect and 
report", ran the Adjutant General's instructions, 
*'all the information you can obtain of the number, 
character and habits of the Indians in that region, 
their means of subsistence, their disposition towards 
the United States, and the influence exerted on them 
by the Hudson's Bay Company by trade, presents or 
otherwise. ' ' 

Five days of marching along the east bank of the 
Mississippi for a distance of seventy-seven miles 

12 161 



162 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

brought the detachment to the Sauk Rapids on June 
llth.^**^ Rain fell every day, and men and horses 
splashed through the mud. The heavy wagons and 
the mountain howitzer tested the strength of the 
horses and tried the patience of the drivers. On the 
next day the dragoons began to cross the Mississippi 
River, but on account of the incessant rain and the 
high winds they did not complete their passage until 
the following day. 

Ascending the Sauk River valley ^^'^ the soldiers 
followed the Red River trail toward the southwest. 
The thickly matted turf saturated with rains com- 
pelled slow marching. "The river", described 
Major Woods, ''was much swollen by the heavy 
rains, and was wide and deep. We launched our 
ponton-wagon-beds and crossed it, and encamped on 
the western bank. Between this and Coldwater 
creek we had to make two bridges, and mired down 
over the most of the way, going only five miles in 
two days ; many little places detaining us for hours, 
and requiring almost the constant labor of our men 
in mud and water." 

The prairies in the full bloom of summer were 
broken here and there by patches of timber and by 
numberless clear streams. Day after day the route 
continued in a northwesterly direction along a chain 
of lakes. Major Woods rested his horses four days 
and repaired broken chains and wagons. ''The 
horse-fly attacked our horses here, and continued for 
two days indescribably fierce, and then disap- 
peared." Near a sheet of water during an electric 



ON THE RED RIVER OF THE NORTH 163 

storm a flash of lightning struck Lieutenant J. W. T. 
Gardiner's tent and the accident suggested the name 
''Lightning Lake". These lakes, framed by timber 
and by quantities of rushes, teemed with bass and 
perch, and some of the soldiers with a seine caught 
more than the command could consume. 

Drenching rains fell during the four days en- 
campment on ''Bear Lake"^^^ and thunder storms 
burst forth in such smashing explosions that soldiers 
left their tents in terror. At other times they could 
gaze toward the dark stretches of woods through 
which from time to time flashes of silent heat light- 
ning gleamed from afar. Stately swans gazed at 
these unbidden visitors to their haunts ; mosquitoes 
sometimes attacked the camp; and possibly the air 
was noisy with the humming of insects and the 
chorus of frogs. 

"We resumed our march on the 6th of July", 
records the leader of this expedition. Crossing a 
broken prairie, the troops came to Chippewa River 
near which an elk crossed their path. At "Elbow 
Lake"^^^ a band of fifty Chippewa hunters met 
them, received tobacco presents, and then gave the 
soldiers a war dance. Five miles beyond they met 
the advance train of about twenty-five Red River 
carts in charge of a man from the Red River settle- 
ment. These carts were freighted with pemmican 
and peltries and were on their way to St. Paul and 
Galena. There goods were purchased and trans- 
ported to Pembina, where the traders attempted to 
smuggle the goods into the English settlements. 



164 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Soon afterward the squadron met Mr. Norman W. 
Kittson, the agent of ''Chotian June & Co." estab- 
lished at Pembina. His sixty-five carts were loaded 
with the furs of a season's business. 

The dragoons next crossed the Red River of the 
North, travelling nearly due northwest. On the west 
bank Major Woods made a selection of a site for a 
military post.^^*^ It was a fertile prairie region 
abounding in luxuriant grass while nearby were for- 
ests of elm, oak, Cottonwood, ash, and maple. The 
site was marked by an upright post on which was 
indicated the distance of one hundred and sixty- 
three miles to Sauk Rapids. On July 15, 1849, the 
detachment resumed its journey down the Red River 
Valley. 

About eighty-eight miles of marching in the next 
six days carried the explorers through pleasant 
landscapes; marshes, long stretches of luxuriant 
prairies and the forest-shadowed valleys of the Wild 
Rice, Sheyenne, Rush, and Elm rivers. But ever 
since their departure from the Mississippi swarms 
of mosquitoes had increased in numbers and ferocity, 
''and had been anathematized, as we thought, suf- 
ficiently for their perdition; but now they choked 
down every expression that would consign them to 
the shades." 

Torrents of rain continued to fall and the detach- 
ment continued to be visited by ' ' countless numbers 
of these winged insects that contemn the displeasure, 
and sing cheerily over the tortures of their victims." 
The soldiers ferried rivers, waded through the water- 



ON THE RED RIVER OF THE NORTH 165 

covered prairies, encamped on the south branch of 
Goose River, and there chased a herd of buffalo, 
killing several. About one hundred miles to the 
northward lay the Pembina settlement. 

Day after day these dragoons crossed streams — 
Turtle River, Park River, Tongue River, and many 
other nameless branches of the Red River of the 
North.^^^ Major Woods with a soldier's eye exam- 
ined an old battle-ground of the Sioux and Chip- 
pewas. From morning till night the soldiers battled 
against mosquitoes and in the evening the wind 
drove them against the tents with a sound like that 
of falling rain. ''Our horses were almost exhausted. 
The constant hard pulling, the ravages of mosqui- 
toes, and not being able to feed in quiet, were too 
much for them." On the first day of August the 
command joyfully arrived at Pembina near the 
junction of the Red and the Pembina rivers. 

''Pembina is the natural gate", observed Major 
Woods, "through which all intercourse between the 
U. S. and the Hudson Bay territories will find its 
passage." Joe Rolette, a fur trader left in charge 
of Kittson's establishment, welcomed the dragoon 
force and tendered the use of his houses. But to 
these soldiers the spot seemed uninviting: instead 
of a village they saw nothing but Kittson's trading- 
place and a few straggling Indian and half-breed 
lodges. A mile distant Major Woods saw the two- 
story Chippewa schoolhouse, the chapel, the out- 
houses, and the luxuriant garden of G. A. Belcourt, 
the Catholic missionary in the Pembina district. 



166 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Major Woods visited and marked the 49tli paral- 
lel, setting up a post bearing the date ^^ August 14, 
1849. ' ' In this month hundreds of Chippewas began 
to return from their summer hunts. The major gave 
an audience to this staring multitude, the leaders of 
which replied to the dragoon commander's compli- 
ments. Then upon his advice ''Green Feather", 
''End of the Current", and "Long Legs", were 
selected as chiefs and each given a medal. After 
this the Indians fired a salute to their new author- 
ities and the dragoons replied with several dis- 
charges from the mountain howitzer. 

Major Woods found in the Pembina district 
about one thousand half-breeds, and in August about 
one hundred of their hunters visited him. They 
complained of the competition of the Hudson's Bay 
Company, and requested that better means of com- 
munication be established with the States and that a 
military post be established among them. The dra- 
goon commander urged them to organize their band, 
to elect a council, and vest it with power to enforce 
order and harmony. Nine men were chosen to act 
as a committee for the government of the half-breed 
population in the United States. 

To such dragoon officers as Lieutenants Gardiner, 
A. D. Nelson, Captain John Pope, and Dr. Sykes 
these weeks among the half-breeds afforded interest- 
ing pictures. They possessed a few hogs, 1500 cattle, 
300 work horses, 150 horses for the chase, 300 oxen, 
and 600 carts. The census of 1850 showed that the 
population of 1116 was predominantly French- 



ON THE RED RIVER OF THE NORTH 167 

Canadian, and nearly all the able-bodied men gave 
their occupations as that of a hunter.^^^ 

Here the dragoon officers learned more about the 
great spring and fall hunts when thousands of buf- 
falo were slain. From three to five hundred hunters 
mounted on fine horses were accompanied by their 
priest and by their wives and children and other 
helpers whose carts creaked and rattled over the 
plains. Now and then a badger would be driven to 
his hole or a gray wolf chased away. At night the 
corral was formed, the tents raised, the camp-fires 
made, and the horses tended. The women boiled 
the water, fried pemmican, cooked potatoes, and 
baked the bread. Then came the posting of the 
guard, the evening pipes, and rest before the next 
day's hunt. 

These half-breeds, the soldiers observed, were a 
mild, generous, well-mannered people. ''The great- 
er number", wrote their indulgent priest, "are no 
friends of labor." Indeed, in the summer evenings 
at St. Vincent parish in Pembina the dimly lighted 
log-houses of these gay folk resounded with merri- 
ment. And many were the reels, jigs, and quadrilles 
shuffled to the shrieks from trembling strings of 
overworked fiddles. Nor were the younger couples 
alone in the fun, for here all joined, unmindful of the 
next day's toil or the hardships of the chase.^^^ 

Major Woods examined the possible military ad- 
vantages of the region at Pembina. Lieutenant 
Nelson in purchasing forage at Fort Garry, sixty 
miles below Pembina, found there a force of about 



168 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

one hundred pensioners of the British army. The 
decision of the dragoon officers was to advise against 
the erection of a post at Pembina. 

When the dragoons left Pembina on August 26th 
a salute was fired in their honor by the half-breeds. 
The detachment returned by the old cart road east 
of the Eed River of the North, marching over the 
four hundred and seventy-one miles at the rate of 
over twenty miles daily. Frosts after September 1st 
affected the grass, and the horses weakened until 
forage was secured at the Sauk Rapids. *'We were 
three months and twelve days out," reported Major 
Woods, "travelled nearly a thousand miles without 
forage (with the exception of a few days), had the 
worst of roads, rivers to swim almost daily, and the 
unceasing annoyance of mosquitoes, and lost but 
one horse and one mule. The horse got away 9,nd 
could not be recovered : the mule died. ' ' 



XVII 

SOLDIER LIFE AT OLD FORT 
LEAVENWORTH 

Beief as they are the staid Post Records of the Fort 
Leavenworth of sixty-five to seventy-five years ago 
reveal some of the sorrows and tragedies at this 
western post. Mindful of the virtuous reputation 
of his officers, the commandant caused a severe 
reprimand to be sent to Captain Eustace Trenor of 
the First Dragoons ; and the record for November 6, 
1849, relumes a bit of old regimental scandal about 
a former lieutenant of this regiment. Captain 
Boone's letter of July 13, 1848, reports the death of 
the commandant of the post. Lieutenant Colonel 
Wharton, *Svho departed this life at this place at 12 
o'clock last night". In November, 1849, the name 
of Mathias S. Baker heads a mournful list of ten 
soldiers reported dead.^^^ 

Order number 89 of May 14, 1849, forbids all 
persons to visit the pest-house; Captain Grier is 
ordered to preside at a court-martial; and two pri- 
vates found guilty of being drunk while on the sick 
list are fined and sentenced to perform twenty extra 
hours of police duty. Another private was found 
guilty of providing spirituous liquors to prisoners; 

169 



170 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

and privates James 'Brien and Baldwin, both dra- 
goons, were found too drunk to attend drill.^^^ 

One may read, too, of the irregular mails from 
St. Louis to the fort; of the granting of leaves of 
absences ; of resignations ; of frequent desertions ; of 
promotions. Side excursions of sergeants' details 
are made to arrest deserters; a dragoon command 
under Captain R. T. Ewell departs for Santa Fe; 
there is a fatal stabbing affray, and a soldier is 
killed who did not answer the sentinel's challenge; 
soldiers return to the fort with face and hands 
poisoned on the long marches over the plains. In 
July, 1850, recruits to the number of three hundred 
and twenty-nine arrive at the fort bringing the 
cholera plague. One corpse was landed from the 
steamer ' * St. Paul ' ', and a few days later seven more 
soldiers sickened and died. ' ' No Doctor can be hired 

y here", reported Captain Lovell, ''and Asst. Surg. 
Langworthy is the only Medical Officer with the 
command : and as he is to be stationed [at] the new 
Post on the Arkansas, I take it for granted that 
another Surgeon will be ordered to join the detach- 
ment bound for Santa Fe."^^^ 

A soldier's routine of duties appears in an order 

j of January 26, 1850. Sleep was broken by the 
reveille at daybreak and fifteen minutes later was 
followed by the stable call. Then came the sick call 
at 7:10, and the call to breakfast twenty minutes 
thereafter. Then came fatigue call, guard mount- 
ing, and orderly call. The dinner call came at 12 M., 
fatigue call again at 1 P. M., and the stable call at 



LIFE AT OLD FORT LEAVENWORTH 171 

1 :30. Retreat at sunset. Tattoo at 9 :00 P. M. meant 
rest for the troops — except for the sentinels who 
kept the long winter night watches.^®" 

Complaint came from Colonel Snmner in 1851 
regarding the high prices paid for stores and sub- 
sistence for the post. Greater use, he urged, should 
be made of the 1400 acre farm at the post. ''The St. 
Louis prices of corn and Oats are about 50 cts. a 
bushel," he writes in January, 1851, "and timothy 
hay 12 or 15 dolls, a ton; the corn and oats can be 
raised at this farm at 20 cts. per bushel or less, and 
the hay will cost nothing but the making of it (say 
two dollars a ton) as we have 600 acres of timothy 
grass. We can raise, after this year 10,000 bushels 
of wheat, and the difference between St. Louis prices 
and the expense of raising it, would be several thou- 
sand dollars. We can reasonably reckon upon rais- 
ing this year, from 23 to 25,000 bushels of corn 12000 
bushels of oats, and over 600 tons of timothy hay. 
The difference between white, and Indian labor, is 
very great, and except for herdsmen and the like, it 
would be better economy to employ white men. If 
the object is, in part, to instruct Indians in agri- 
culture, it would seem to be unnecessary here, as we 
are surrounded by Mission, and Manual labor scholls 
[sic]. It does not seem to be contemplated that any 
stock (Beef and Pork) will be raised; this would be 
very profitable and would not interfere with the 
tillage of the farm. Our Beef now costs over 5, and 
Pork $5 a hundred, both can be raised here for less 
than $2 a hundred. The animals would be herded on 



172 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

the praries near us, during the summer, and brought 
upon the farm in the winter, where the fodder, from 
the immense grain fields, would subsist a great num- 
ber of them."^^^ 

At this post and at others conflicts between the 
military and the civil population arose only too 
often. In 1846 Captain Wharton established a post 
on Table Creek where he learned that "several per- 
sons have squatted on it by some doubtless with the 
intention of becoming dealers in Whiskey to the an- 
noyance of the Garrison ".^^^ A few years later 
Colonel Sumner was protesting that a justice of the 
county court of Platte at Weston, Missouri, was dis- 
charging soldiers on frivolous and illegal pretenses. 
The justice held that some soldiers were not United 
States citizens when they enlisted, that others had 
been enlisted for mounted service but had been 
ordered to serve on foot, that soldiers were intoxi- 
cated when recruited, that their wives were not 
properly provided for at the post, and finally that 
they had been converted into day laborers at the 
fort. ''The discharges", concluded the Colonel, 
''being constantly granted for the above causes, are 
rapidly reducing the strength of the companies at 
this post, and unless prompt measures are taken in 
the matter, men enough will not be left to furnish a 
guard for the public property. ' '^^" 

Traders, pioneer settlers, and western emigrants 
in visiting or in passing Fort Leavenworth not in- 
frequently defied the military authorities or assumed 
toward them a patronizing familiarity. The pioneer 



LIFE AT OLD FORT LEAVENWORTH 173 

travelling in wide spaces and performing unaided 
his part in the conquest of the new West sometimes 
knew little or cared little about courts, laws, officials, 
and respect for military authorities. It must have 
been a not dissimilar type which James Russell 
Lowell sympathetically but rather truthfully de- 
scribed as:^'^^ 

This brown-fisted rough, this shirt-sleeved Cid, 
This backwoods Charlemagne of Empires new, 
Who meeting Caesar's self would slap his back, 
Call him "Old Horse" and challenge to a drink. 

Privates were paid at the rate of eight dollars 
per month, although of this amount one dollar was 
retained each month by the paymaster. Wonders 
were accomplished with these few dollars in pur- 
chasing delicacies for the mess tables, and the Mis- 
souri hucksters carried on a flourishing business 
among the soldiery. Too often, however, these dol- 
lars were spent at ''Whiskey Point", a not too 
respectable ale-house located a mile above the fort 
and on the opposite side of the Missouri River. 
There anything could be traded for whiskey ; and not 
infrequently a soldier would trade his overcoat and 
then suffer greatly during some of the winter 
marches over the snow-covered plains.^*^- 

Courts-martial and punishments were frequent 
enough in the summer of 1849. Corporal John W. 
Corser was guilty of highly "unsoldierlike conduct" 
for exclaiming to Captain Perry: "Damn you sir, I 
did answer to my name." Another trooper was 
drunk on parade, with clothes and equipment in bad 



174 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

order, and for fifteen days was compelled to live in a 
cell on bread and water. Privates O'Brien and 
Baldwin were fined five dollars for being absent 
without leave. Another sentence compelled a luck- 
less soldier to walk in front of the guard house and 
to carry a weight of thirty pounds two out of every 
three hours.^^^ A year later, in May, 1850, a culprit 
might have been seen carrying two weights or balls 
and resting only one hour for each meal between 
reveille and tattoo.^*^* 

But other and more welcome glimpses of the post 
and its activities as they appeared about sixty-five 
years ago are preserved in old records and rem- 
iniscences. For months late in 1849 a company of 
recruits from Carlisle, Pennsylvania, had been on the 
way to Fort Leavenworth, but not until Christmas 
day did the flag and the buildings loom into view. 
Edward Brydon, the Irish trumpeter, sounded the 
retreat, the ranks were closed, the roll was called, 
and in good order the troops marched in front of 
Colonel Sumner's quarters. After standing at atten- 
tion and hearing their names checked off, the recruits 
were marched to their quarters.^" ^ 

Hungry as they were these travel-tired troops 
did not gormandize that evening at the Christmas 
// dinner. Filing into the dining-room, they found a 
table piled high with bread and boiled pork cut in 
slices. Each man passed his tin-cup to be filled from 
a big kettle of steaming coffee. "The British de- 
serter", wrote a guest at this rude feast, ''had been 
supplied with whiskey since his arrival, and he 



LIFE AT OLD FORT LEAVENWORTH 175 

officiated in handing each man his ration, taking a 
slice of pork, putting it on a slice of bread and hand- 
ing it to the nearest man — a Christmas dinner long 
to be remembered. "^"^® 

Troop K had a goodly number of scholars, some 
good singers, and a smattering of theatrical talent. 
A Thespian Society was organized, and once a week 
during February and March in 1850 men like Kim- 
ball, Glennon, Rogers, Miller, Hill, O'Shea, and 
''Little" Duffy gave performances in the dining- 
room. Nor did the officers and ladies at the post fail 
to attend some of these exhibitions and entertain- 
ments.^^"^ 

It is not difficult to fancy the scenes in the pri- 
vates' barracks during the long winter evenings of 
about sixty-five years ago. Before the crackling 
log-fires were such privates as Talbot, WorreT, 
McKenzie, and Fox — all veterans of the Mexican 
War. There was Miller, an Englishman, who had 
been a teacher and was master of several languages. 
O'Shea, a graduate of Dublin University, was the 
champion boxer of the garrison. Congenial com- 
panionships, practical jokes, reading in the post 
library, and the twice-told tales of comrades in arms 
— such constituted some of the more pleasant winter 
evening scenes at the post.^*^^ 

But elsewhere, too, there were not lacking scenes 
of merriment and good fellowship. A large two- 
story frame structure with front and back porches 
and a stone basement contained the quarters of the 
unmarried officers and was rightly named ''Bed- 



176 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

lam". '' 'Twas here", wrote an old dragoon, ''they 
fought their battles o'er, from West Point and the 
girls they left behind them, through the swamps of 
Florida, the wilds of Texas, over the great plains, 
the mountains, on the Pacific Slope and the fields of 
Mexico. 'Twas here they met after tedious cam- 
paigns, recounted their triumphs, disappointments 
and hardships; through heat, cold, hunger and dis- 
ease — and now the feast, if not always of reason, at 
least the flow of soul — and other things. "^"^^ 

The simple features and homely charms of this 
old Missouri River post have disappeared in the 
modern fort with its commodious barracks, the 
stately War College, the huge cavalry stables, the 
motion-picture building, the Y. M. C. A. quarters, 
and the great disciplinary barracks containing their 
numbered inmates and frowningly overlooking the 
Missouri River. But the old Post Records are still 
there and yield their meager history; while the 
names of Kearney Avenue, Sumner Place, and 
Buford Avenue seem to preserve the memories of 
soldiers who knew the fort when the West was still 
wild. 

One day in the spring of 1915 the writer was 
examining the old Post Records in the summary 
court-martial room at Fort Leavenworth, An officer, 
presumably a captain of infantry, entered, followed 
by a boyish-looking private. The officer sat down, 
but the soldier stood rigidly at attention. ''You 
are charged", he read, "with having been absent 



LIFE AT OLD FORT LEAVENWORTH 177 

from drill in May two weeks ago. Are you guilty or 
not guilty?" The private confessed guilt and ex- 
plained that he had been out with the ''bunch" and 
had crossed over into Missouri. There the soldiers 
had secured liquor, and he had become too intoxi- 
cated to perform his military duties the following 
day. 

This scene brought back visions of Old Fort 
Leavenworth — the Old Fort Leavenworth of 
seventy-five years ago. 



13 



APPENDIX 



179 



APPENDIX 

CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL OF AN EXPE- 
DITION OVER THE WESTERN PRAIRIES 

INTRODUCTION 

The documents printed below are in the office of 
the Adjutant General of the United States Army at 
Washington. All the material is based upon photo- 
stat prints secured by The State Historical Society 
of Iowa and consists of the following documents: 

(1) a map illustrating the route of the dragoons; 

(2) Brigadier General Zachary Taylor's letter of 
transmittal; (3) Captain Boone's report; and (4) 
Captain Boone's Journal. The map is not repro- 
duced in this appendix and drawings and illustra- 
tions in the body of the Journal are merely indicated 
in the printed text. 

Nathan Boone, the author of the Journal, was 
born in Kentucky in 1782 and emigrated with his 
father, Daniel Boone, to Missouri. In 1812 Presi- 
dent Madison appointed him captain of mounted 
rangers, a company of Missouri frontiersmen, and 
in the next year he rose to the rank of major. In 
1832 he became captain in the regiment of Mounted 
Rangers. Afterward he served as captain and then 
as major in the First Regiment of United States 

181 



182 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Dragoons. He became lieutenant colonel of the 
Second Regiment of United States Dragoons on 
July 25, 1850, resigning tliree years later. He died 
on June 12, 1857. 

ZACHARY TAYLOR'S LETTER OF TRANSMITTAL 

Hd. Qrs. Ind Mil. Dept. 
Fort Smith, August 23d 1843. 
Sir, 

I respectfully transmit Captain Boone's report 
of his recent expedition on the Prairies, with the 
accompanying journal and a reduced copy of the 
Captain's map of his route. 

I beg leave to invite the attention of the General 
in Chief to this journal, as affording much valuable 
and curious information, particularly in relation to 
the Salt region on the Red Forks of the Arkansas. 
The instructions given to Captain Boone were faith- 
fully carried out, and much credit is due to him and 
his officers for the good management of the expedi- 
tion — 

I am, sir, very respectfully. 

Your obt. servt. 

Z. Taylok, Bt. Br. Genl, 

U. S. A. Comdg. 
The Adjutant General 
of the Army, 
Washington, 
D. C. 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 183 

CAPTAIN BOONE'S EEPOET 

Fort Gibson Angst 11th. 1843 
Sir 

I have the honour to inform you of my return 
with my command to this Post on the 31st of July 
— 43, having been delayed by a severe cold taken 
since my return, from making an earlier report. 
Pursuant to your instructions of April 24th 1843, 
I left this Post on the 14th May to make a recon- 
noisance of the Western prairies. My command con- 
sisted of two subalterns, and 60 Non Com'd Offrs, 
and Privates. I proceeded up the North side of the 
Arkansas River, keeping between the Arkansas, and 
Verdigris Rivers for about seventy five miles, and at 
my camp on the Arkansas, I was joined by Asst 
Sargt Simpson on the 18th and Lts [Abraham R.] 
Johnston, & [Richard H.] Anderson with 27 men of 
D Co U. S. Drags, at which time I also received a 
copy of your letter to Col Davenport dated May 10th 
1843, apprising me of the movements of Col Ryburn, 
and other Texians. On receiving this information, I 
determined to cross to the South side of the Arkan- 
sas, and then take up the upper Red Fork, thinking 
that I might by so doing fall in with Ryburns party. 
Crossed the Arkansas on the 20th, marched in a 
North Westerly direction, untill I reached the Red 
Fork, and thence, proceeded up that River without 
difficulty, or interruption untill the 29th May, when 
we fell in with a party of Osages, 35 or 40 in num- 
ber, accompanied by their families, near the great 
Salt plains. We encamped with them, and during 



184 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

that night, they stole from my camp ten horses, and 
two mules. Six of these horses, and two mules, were 
public animals, the remaining four, belonged to the 
officers 

At this time, I had not sufficient proof against them 
to act promptly with them. The Chief of this party 
call'd himself To, wan, ga, ha, his interpreter, who 
call'd himself John, was an Osage, and spoke tol- 
erable English, our camp was on a creek call'd 
Pa-ha-bee, a branch of the Red Fork (Upper). 
Having spent several days in trying to recover our 
stolen horses, visited the great Salt plain, but with- 
out examining it, and seeing no signs of Ryburn's 
party, I steered more North, in order to strike the 
Santa Fe trace where it first strikes the Arkansas, 
intending to revisit the Salt plain, and give it a 
thorough examination I left To, wan, ga, ha and 
party on the 3rd of June, and on the 5th of June, 
met a small party of Osages, amongst whom were 
several of To wan ga ha's band, one of them riding 
one of the mules which had been stolen from us on 
the night of the 29th May. This I considered as 
satisfactory proof of the theft, they knowing their 
guilt, became alarmed, and attempted to escape. We 
seized them, took their arms, and I permitted such 
officers (at their request) as had lost horses, to re- 
place them with Indian ponies, four of which were 
taken. I ordered the Osages to show us their camp, 
but could not prevail on them to do so. I then told 
them to go, and bring us our stolen horses, and I 
would restore them their property, but this had not 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 185 

the desired effect. After encamping on the evening 
of the 5th, three osages of the same party visited 
our camp, and wanted to exchange their horses for 
the horses which had been taken from them. I again 
told them to bring my horses, and they should have 
their 's, with their arms, but without effect 
Next day continued North about 20 miles which 
brought us to the Santa Fe trace at a place which 
I call'd Mulberry grove, and in this grove, I found 
the encampment of the party which rob'd, and mur- 
dered C. Garvis [Don Antonio Jose Chavez] -^*^ the 
Spaniard. Some five or six horse men had been 
there about four days before, and left signs on trees 
which I supposed had reference to their numbers, 
and the direction they were travelling. I search 'd 
for the remains of C Garvis, [Chavez] & also sent 
out two detachments in search of those who had 
lately been there, but could find neither. Finding 
the Traders had not yet passed, I determined to 
cross over to the South side of the Arkansas, where 
I could get buffalo, and await the arrival of the 
Traders. This I did and on the 13th of June, Cap't 
Cooke's command came in sight. On his arrival, 
Cap't Cooke informed me that the caravan was a 
few miles behind, accompanied by Cap't [Benjamin 
D.] Moore & Company. Capt Cooke encamped on 
the left bank, while I encamped on the right bank of 
the Arkansas, from the 13th to the 22nd. Lt John- 
ston on the 13th met with a severe accident, shooting 
himself through the foot, in consequence of which he 
had to be hauled in the waggon during the remain- 



186 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

der of the trip. Cap't Moore with the traders being 
still back about 12 miles, where they had been de- 
tained by high waters, and as Cap't Cooke thought 
his command sufficiently strong to protect the 
traders, I determined to set out on our Southern 
rout, intending to pass the Salt plains. Accordingly 
started on the 22nd, and travell'd West by South 
West, and on the 27th met with a large party of 
osages, and encamped near them at night. Their 
cheif was To, ca, sa, ba. In the morning I set out 
for the Salt plains. To, ca, sa, ba telling me, he 'd go 
there also, and we'd encamp together. Beleiving 
that this party wish'd to steal our horses, I felt no 
disposition to meet them at the Salt plains, and 
after marching three miles from camp, I changed my 
course, and steered towards the Rock Salt, where I 
arrived on the 30th June. I intended remaining 
here some days, and to make a thorough examination 
of the plain, but the next day a large party of osages 
came, and encamped by us. Their cheif was Tallee, 
who with his party appeared well disposed towards 
us, and laughing, told us the osages had stolen our 
horses. The Salt Rock as I have call'd it, is well 
worth a strict examination, which I could not give 
it, not being prepared to do so. I do not consider 
what I there saw, to be the Rock Salt proper, al- 
though it lies in great masses, but I do believe Rock 
Salt to be within a few feet of the surface of the 
plain, and to be wash'd by the bottom of the River. 
It was very evident that the Indians were not pleased 
with our visit, and wish'd us awav. Whether this 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 187 

was caused by a fear that we'd frighten off the buf- 
falo, or not, they kept up a continual alarm of 
Pawnee Mohas[l]. The osages told me of another 
salt plain, where they cut up salt, which they re- 
ported to be on a prairie off from the River. I con- 
cluded to make a search for this plain and with this 
intention march 'd down the Red Fork some 30 or 40 
miles, but my search was unsuccessful. About this 
time Private Been [Bean] Co 'E' died. He had been 
hauled in the waggon from the Arkansas River. 
This was the only case of sickness worth mentioning, 
which we had on the trip. I now struck for the 
Canadian Fork of the Arkansas River, which I 
reach 'd after crossing the north Fork. On arriving 
at the Canadian, I crossed, and travell'd down be- 
tween that stream, and the False Washita untill I 
parted with Lt Johnston on the morning of the 14th 
July, when I again crossed the Canadian, keeping on 
its northern side, between it, and Little River, pass- 
ing Choteau's Old Trading house. We struck the 
road leading from Edwards trading house (Old Fort 
Holmes) ^^^ to Gibson 5 miles north of Edwards', 
and kept on it to Fort Gibson. During the March, 
we lost two men, one as already stated, the other was 
accidentally shot, dying a few minutes after being 
shot. I will here remark that throughout the march 
we met with no difficulty in travelling though there 
were three waggons along. From the Arkansas to 
the Ne, ne, sea, there is no timber, but throughout 
the rest of our rout, we always found some sort of 
timber, affording us fuel. Throughout the Region 



188 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

of Red Gypsum hills, we found great quantities of 
Red Cedar. We subsisted on buffalo meat from the 
time we reach 'd the great salt plain, untill we struck 
the settlements on the Canadian. We used the Salt 
from the Salt plains. 

In addition to this report, I offer you a copy from 
my journal, as comprising the greater part of my 
report, and giving the particular incidents as they 
occur 'd, together with the water courses, directions 
and distances travell'd. The soil of the greater por- 
tion of the country passed over was very fine, espe- 
cially amongst the Gypsum hills. Gypsum and 
plaster of Paris, grey, blue. Red, & white, for one 
hundred miles from north to south, is as abundant 
as the Limestone is in Missouri, or Arkansas, in 
parts of the country we passed over. 
I also send with this, a Map or Rough Sketch of the 
Country, with the water courses running through it. 
The courses, and distances are all estimated from 
Point to Point direct, and not according to the dis- 
tances actually travell'd during each day, as it was 
found impossible to note the courses and distances 
of the windings made during each days march. 
Very Respectfully 
Yr Obd't Serv't 

Nathan Boone Capt Comdg 
Detacht. Dr. 

To Genl. Z. Taylor 

Comd'g 2nd Mil. Dep't. 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 189 

CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 

Copy of a journal kept hy Cap't N Boone during 
a March on the South W Prairies from the 14th May 
1843 to 31st July 1843 

Captain Boone agreeably to Department Order 
of the 24th April 1843, commenced his march from 
the beach of Grand River opposite Fort Gibson at 
11 O'clock A. M. on the 14th of May 1843. The 
course for the first four miles was west, When, cross- 
ing the Verdigris River at Unswatoy's Ferry, he 
proceeded in a South Westerly Course four miles 
then West 6 miles and encamped on a small prairie 
branch emptying into the Arkansas ; having marched 
from 12 to 14 miles direct distance from Camp No. 1 
to Fort Gibson, and about 10 miles East course. — 
Land, passed over during the march, heavily tim- 
bered, and very fertile. 

May 15th — Monday. — Started on the march at 
y2 past 7. West by N. W. 15 miles. Encamped for 
the night on a small creek which runs into the Arkan- 
sas. The traveling good : over handsome and fertile 
prairie. To the left of the trail, 22 miles from Fort 
Gibson, was found a mineral spring slightly Chalyb- 
eate. The geological formation, passed over, con- 
sisted of sandstone which exists at Fort Gibson and 
on the hills above Little Rock, on the Arkansas river, 
and which is supposed to have a dip of a few degrees 
to the S. W. 

3rd day. May 16th — Tuesday. — Set out at 10 
A. M. course N. W. 6 miles. Encamped on a branch, 
of the Verdigris, difficult to Cross : the banks steep 
and miry. 



190 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

4th day. May 17. Wednesday. — Eemained all 
day in camp. Rain, very heavy nearly all day. the 
wind from the N. E, One horse of Co. E died ; cause, 
not known. The character of the country in appear- 
ance the same as that passed on the 16th — on the 
16th passed some lime stone strata of compact lime 
stone dip 3° S. S. W. This limestone is supposed to 
be the same with that underlying the Sandstone at 
the landing at Fort Gibson. 

5th day. 4th day marching, May 18th Thursday. 
Moved camp one mile to the high land, and remained 
awaiting Co. D., which we had been informed was on 
the march to join us. 

6th day. 5th day marching, May 19th Friday. — 
Set out at y2 past 7. Course W. N. W. for 10 miles, 
then N. W. 8 miles Encamped for the night on a 
creek emptying into the Verdigris. This Creek rises 
in the hills immediately on the Arkansas and runs 
N. E. The first ten miles of the day's march, was 
through the prairie and similar to the previous 
marches : the Command then entered the hills on the 
head of the Creek previously mentioned. The route 
was difficult from the quantity of Rock and the steep- 
ness of the hills. Some of the hills bordering the 
prairie were entirely free from timber; the most of 
them were covered with Black Jack and Post oak; 
with here and there a white oak, and on the water 
courses occasionally a few black birch. These entire 
hills appear to be composed of the Sand Stone pre- 
viously passed: At one point the limestone men- 
tioned on the 16th was noticed at the base of the hills 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 191 

after leaving the prairie, this limestone contains 
Encorsoils[l] and some minute bival[v]e shells. In 
the sand stone were noticed wave-lines, collelites,[!] 
and appearances similar to them, also a sort of 
arborescent appearance [drawing in MS.] often seen 
in the Sand Stone at Fort Gibson. Noticed on the 
prairie, the wild indigo with a blue, and also with a 
white flower; the wild sensitive plant; the polar 
plant, a rosin weed. This plant is a tall plant, per- 
haps 7 feet high, with a few shaped leaf which 
ranges, generally, north and south, affording a toler- 
able compass to the traveler over the prairies. A 
quantity of rosin is secreted at each joint which 
might render its cultivation desirable; its taste is 
strongly resinous, and the horse is very fond of it. 

7tli day. 6th day marching. May 20th Saturday. 
— Marched at Yi past 7. Course N. W. 18 miles and 
encamped near the Arkansas River, where the Osage 
trail crosses it. At 12 o'clock this day, got one of 
the cross timber and passed through an arm of the 
grand prairie, where were the remains of an exten- 
sive Indian Encampment. — 

8th day. May 21st. Sunday. — Remained in 
camp awaiting the arrival of Lieut Johnston with 
Company D. Dr. Simpson having arrived the night 
previous. Here we built a bark canoe. — Company 
''D" joined about 2 o' Clock. 

9th day. 7th marching. — May 22nd Monday. — 
Broke up camp, and crossed the Arkansas at the 
Osage crossing. The river is here half a mile wide, 
and we found it up to the saddle skirts and falling; 



192 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

we hauled the wagons over with the teams and put 
the provisions in the bark canoe and the men waded 
and pulled it over, and in 10 trips, brought over the 
entire contents of the 3 wagons. Traveled to day 
about 2 miles, west, and encamped on the west bank 
of a small creek which empties into the Arkansas, 
above the Crossing. 

10th day. 8th day marching. — May 23rd Tues- 
day. — Marched about >^ past 6. traveled 19 miles 
N. 70 W. followed until 2 o'clock the great Osage 
hunting trail, until it left the waters of the creek 
which we encamped on last night; then the trail 
turning to the South we left it on the divide, and 
came to the head of another more considerable creek 
which flows N. E. during the day saw perhaps 50 
deer. The Country was much broken timber post 
oak and black jack openings, and prairie, the soil 
sandy and in some places the black jack on the high 
hills appeared to be dying; no doubt attributable to 
the dry season. The quantity of water which flows 
from the streams is very small compared to the ex- 
tent of the country. Most of the rocks were sand 
stones. About 7 miles from Camp we passed a sand- 
stone hill with a strata of limestone running through 
it, which we passed several times during the day 
afterwards, gradually getting near the beds of the 
streams as we travelled west. Vegetation somewhat 
different from the north side of the Arkansas, saw 
red oak, and Bur oak — two of the latter near our 
Camp were 4 feet in diameter. The limestone of 
to day contained innumerable minute shells some- 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 193 

what of the shape and size of a barley grain, besides 
coral, or madrepores, terebratulae et. al. — 

11th day. 9th day marching. May 24th Wednes- 
day. Marched at >^ past 6. A. M. course W. N. W. 
19 miles, crossed three creeks of some size flowing 
northwardly — encamped on a fourth larger still, 
with running water of a very red character ; crossed 
a stratum of limestone apparently dipping S. E. also 
a stratum of reddish limestone colored by iron or 
[blank in MS.] under which was a stratum of clayey 
shale with plates of limestone intermixed. These 
strata no doubt out crop along the course of the 
creek above named, hence its color. The country 
passed over was rolling and in some places hilly, 
with timber a few hundred yards on the creeks and 
their tributaries. — From the hill tops in the prairie 
the views were extensive and beautiful. After get- 
ting on the limestone land a great change was ob- 
served in the vegetation, the grass was finer, the 
trees of different character. Linden, Hackberry, 
Black Ash, hickory, Sycamore, Cotton wood, elm, 
grapevines &c were observed. On the prairies the 
vegetation was the same, but more luxuriant. There 
appear to be no strawberries in these prairies. The 
red stream on which we camp is difficult to pass, the 
banks being steep and muddy. Deer and Turkies 
plenty, hundreds of the latter being out on the open 
prairie. 

12th day. 10th day marching. May 25 Thursday. 
Marched at >^ past 6. Course N. W. 21 miles, about 
14 miles N. 50 W. We passed a large creek which at 

14 



194 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

first we supposed might be the Eed fork of the Ar- 
kansas, being red, and apparently a long stream, but 
after travelling 7 miles in a more northerly direc- 
tion we were gratified by finding a beautiful river 
about 200 yards wide, making a sweeping bend to- 
wards the South at the point where we struck it ; the 
prairie coming in to the right bank while on the 
other shore the floods had thrown up high banks of 
white sand, which were covered with groves of Cot- 
ton wood and other trees, these, contrasted with the 
red color of the water gave a beautiful appearance 
to the river. We encamped in the prairie on the 
bank of the river. Our march to day was principally 
over the short buffalo grass, the prairie grass having 
almost entirely disappeared, the timber was getting 
scarcer, and on leaving one creek it was like putting 
out to the open sea until we rose the ridge, when a 
narrow skirt of trees would point out the position of 
the next. About four miles from Camp (24th) we 
crossed another Osage trail, more considerable than 
the one on which we crossed the Arkansas ; On this 
trail we discovered two or three recent shod horse 
tracks, made probably before the rain. These tracks 
were going north east (the direction of the trail). 
Passed over some limestone and Sandstone of very 
red character, dip, not apparent, at our camp to- 
night on the bank of the river a sand rock out crops, 
under which was a stratum of reddish illuminous 
earth, and under that a stratum of limestone very 
like the stone used for lithography. Along the 
banks of the river were deposites of clay of a soapy 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 195 

feel, as red as the common Cornelian. About 3 miles 
before encamping, three objects were seen on the 
verge of the horizon, coming towards the column, in 
a few minutes they were on the top of the nearest 
hill and proved to be 3 Antelopes, the first we had 
seen, prompted by their well known curiosity they 
have approached to see what all this could mean. 
On the bank of the river we found some recent elk 
tracks the first evidence we have had of their being 
in the Country. Our three last days marches have 
been over prairie, abounding in old Buffalo wallows, 
and frequently we have passed the bones of buffalo 
whitening on the prairie ; but no signs of their being 
here for several years. The waters of these rivers 
taste brackish a little and some think styptic. They 
are strongly [blank in MS.], and the horses ap- 
peared very fond of them. — 

13th day. 11th day marching. May 26th Friday. 
— This morning a large stream was discovered, by 
Capt Boone, to be running from the north and emp- 
tying into the one on which we were encamped. A 
party of an officer and two men, was sent over to 
explore: they crossed the Red fork (as that proved 
to be one on which the command encamped,) at a 
very quick-sandy ford, and after crossing over the 
flat prairie for four or five miles, between the rivers, 
came upon the main Arkansas river, which makes a 
wide sweep to the south at this point and joins with 
the red fork about four miles N. E. of our last night's 
encampment. The Arkansas was nearly white above 
the junction. In the bend between the rivers a bed 



196 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

of limestone out crops, dip 6° S. E. filled with fos- 
sils. On the bank of the Arkansas another stratum 
was seen with the same dip, containing a great quan- 
tity of small [drawing in MS.] The course of the 
column was N. 80° w. 20 miles, over a ridge on the 
right bank of the red fork. Crossed the red fork 
about 4 miles before encamping, at a good solid ford. 
Encamped on a creek, which was called walnut, from 
the quantity of that tree found upon it. Some ante- 
lope seen to day, and one hare killed; the hare 
weighed five pounds, being poor, and not full size, 
the ears were near four inches long, the body 2 feet : 
it resembled a rabbit, but head was more delicate in 
proportion, and the whole appearance of the Animal 
indicated speed, which was astonishing, the top of 
tail, and the tips of ears behind, were black. Timber 
being very scarce, only to be found in narrow strips 
on the stream; the country getting very flat, with 
broad flat bottoms on the rivers. Saw a great num- 
ber of remarkable circles of grass in the prairies, 
supposed to be the effects of lightning. They are 
circular belts of grass perhaps a yard wide — the 
grass entirely of a different kind; being apparently 
the rank prairie grass of a dark green contrasted 
with the yellowish green of the buffalo grass [three 
drawings in MS.] 

14th day. 12th day inarching. May 27th. Sat- 
urday. Marched at 7 A. M. Course W. 20 M. over 
country where there was very little variation from a 
general level, and occasionally, as far as the eye 
could reach there was no timber to be seen, except 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 197 

the narrow skirt which indicated the course of the 
Eed fork. Along the course of that stream we could 
see large banks of sand apparently as high as the 
highest ground in view. Passed more recent sign of 
Buffalo, and what was at no distant day the stamp- 
ing grounds, of countless hordes of them. The de- 
struction of these animals yearly and their falling 
off so rapidly makes it certain, almost, that in a few 
years they will only be known as a rare species. 
More than 30,000 robes for Commerce come down 
the Missouri annually, these added to those which go 
elsewhere, must make the tax on the buffalo robes 
annually come to exceed 100,000. Taking into con- 
sideration the fact that the animals destroyed for 
food are taken in the summer wdiile the hair is almost 
all off, and, of course, the robe useless, we can readily 
account for this disappearance from the grounds we 
have been travelling over, and make it certain that 
the buffalo must soon cease on these plains alto- 
gether. — Passed to day many places where salt ap- 
peared to be efifloresceing on the soil, these places 
w^ere evidently the favourite resort of the buffalo. 
Encamped on the left bank of a creek emptying into 
the Red fork. On this we found the carcasses of 
three buffalo, probably starved here by the lateness 
of the spring. A little before Sunset a dark cloud 
appeared in the north west, which soon came upon 
us with a frightful thunder storm, accompanied with 
hail. — some of the stones, as large as a hen's egg. 
Our horses stood until it was nearly over, then, many 
of them broke, and were away all night, but came 



198 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

back on the run at day light. Game — Deer, Ante- 
lope, turkeys, partridges, grouse, scarce observed[.] 
plenty of turtle doves and plover. Near Camp dis- 
covered a bank of Clay in which was a seam of 
whitish Chalky clay or soft limestone. — 

ISth day. 13th day marching. May 28th Sun- 
day. Marched at 10 A. M. Made a late start on 
account of the rain. Marched 11 miles N. 10° W. 
Encamped on the same creek as last night, on the 
last timber of it, there being none North or West of 
it as far as could be seen on the prairie. The short 
grass of the prairies or buffalo grass being very 
short on our march. Old Buffalo [blank in MS.] 
and wallows in prodigious numbers. Saw to day 
one settlement of the prairie dog. — killed a badger 
and a hare. — Saw some antelope and deer, and signs 
of turkeys. The soil of the plain passed to day ap- 
pears fertile and partakes of the red character which 
gives color to Red fork and other streams in this 
quarter. Afar off to the left on the course of the 
Red fork appeared some high ground, like hills cov- 
ered with timber, but too distant for observation. 
The wind was N. W. to day, the thermometer at 55°. 
at Sunrise, and 62°. at one o'clock. Latitude about 
36°. 20^ Encamped near an old osage encampment, 
marked by the ribs of their lodges still standing. 
They usually encamp on an eminence that they may 
see if their enemies approach. To procure fire wood 
they climb the trees and lop off the branches, when 
small trees cannot be obtained. This is probably the 
work of the Squaws, found some flint on the soil 
to day, in loose pieces. — 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 199 

16th day. 14th day marching. May 29th. — Mon- 
day. Started at 7. going north west for some dis- 
tance over the successive elevations of the prairie, 
we finally came in sight of an indian, and two officers 
started in pursuit and overtook some osages, Wa- 
sha-shay. They took us to their Camp and upon 
receiving information that one of the Salt Plains 
was within 20 miles, concluded to encamp on the 
same stream with them, and get a guide next day 
for it. They had killed 25 buffalo in and about their 
Camp, so that we are now in the buffalo range. The 
Creek on which they encamped flows S. E. and is 
quite a large branch of what we have called the Red 
fork — they call this Creek Pa-ha-bee — We have 
not seen the buffalo yet. our distance was about 12 
miles N. 10°. W. Near Camp tonight, there is an 
out-crop of limestone nearly horizontal, under which 
is a thick stratum of red clay, or, more properly, 
clay slate, it crumbles easily and cuts like soap- 
stone with the knife. Under this is a stratum of 
white stone of similar character like [blank in MS.] 
chalk. — 

17th day. May 30th Tuesday. — This morning 
several horses were missing and evidence of foul 
play shown by the lariettes being cut. In a short 
time a great disturbance was shown in the osage 
Camp. They came and reported that the Pawnees 
had been at Camp and had stolen some of their 
horses as well as ours. This induced the Commander 
to detach two subalterns and 30 men to follow their 
trail. This party got off at about >^ past 6 and fol- 



200 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

lowed the Osages on the trail for near 30 miles at a 
gallop, but there they lost it in a sandy plain filled 
with buffalo. After this suspicion was fixed on the 
Osages, themselves, and the party returned to Camp. 
The horses taken were picketed in a second bottom 
below camp, on the Creek — rather out of the direct 
view of the sentinel, and so near the Osage Camp 
that no Pawnees would ever come there for them. — 
This day the party sent in pursuit were conducted 
about 25 miles N. 80°. W. and there crossed a creek, 
running to the left, of some size, their course was 
over, the ridges between the Creek one camp was on. 
and the one just mentioned. This ground is elevated 
about 100 feet, but very gradual, so that in crossing 
the country you can see the long successive ridges 
before and behind like the swell of an ocean. — but 
more extensive — The soil, red ; and sandstone with 
red clay. 

18th day. 15th day's marching. May 31st 
Wednesday. The Osages were informed this morn- 
ing, that it was believed they were the horse thieves, 
and they must give up the horses or they could not 
go on their hunt. They said they would go and put 
us on the Pawnee trail. Camp was accordingly 
broken up and all the Indians taken with us; after 
travelling 10 miles West and encamped on a deep 
gully running S. W. towards the Red forks — from 
the ridge near this the Osages showed the trail of 
the Shod horses, and not a single poney track was 
among them, and the trail diverged to the left en- 
tirely of the route they led the Dragoons on yester- 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 201 

day; showing conclusively that they had led the 
party on the right side of the ridge, on a false track, 
while on the left these men were running off our 
horses. A butcher knife was found in camp where 
one of the horses was cut loose, and one of the pur- 
sueing party of yesterday handed it to the Chief 
saying he had found it in the chase, and asked him 
if it belonged to the Osages — ''oh yes wa-sash-ay." 
But when told that it had done the mischief, he said 
his trader had traded with the Pawnee's, and they 
had knives like the Osages and he was mistaken. 
The indians near Camp dug a quantity of a sort of 
carrot shaped root, in taste resembling the raw po- 
tato. It forms a part of their food, and might be 
worth cultivating [three drawings in MS.] 

19th day. June 1st Thursday. — The command 
remained in Camp to day and hunted buffalo ; while 
Capt Boone, with one subaltern and two osages 
started to look at the Salt plain. After travelling 10 
miles S 20° W. from Camp, Came in sight of the 
plain of Salt, looking like a large lake of white water 
in an extensive level country. The approach to this 
view was through a succession of sand hills formed 
at no distant day by the drifting of the light sand of 
which they are composed, though now covered with 
grass. In going through these hills, the Osages 
caught sight of a man in a distant hill. Capt. Boone 
went over to see who it was, and discovered a well 
in the sand made by some Indian, as there were 
prints of moccasins by it &c. — This gave a hint of 
the presence of Comanches and a turn of opinion as 



202 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

to the true horse thieves. Deeming it not prudent to 
venture further from Camp without a stronger force, 
the exploring party returned to camp. 

20th day. June 2nd Friday. — All the disposable 
men were mounted this morning to search the vicin- 
ity of the Salt plains and see if there were any 
indians in that quarter. Lieut Anderson was left in 
charge of Camp. The Column started about Yz past 
5, and after searching the sand hills mentioned yes- 
terday, in vain, for indians, proceeded on to the Salt 
Plain. This was found good 20 miles S from Camp. 
The approach was very gratifying — a view of the 
plain from the Sand hills was really magnificent, and, 
from the appearance, one might expect to find salt 
in a solid mass for the whole extent of the plain, of 
several feet in thickness. Eunning towards the 
plain from the sand hills we found several streams 
of pure limpid water. We then came on the bed of a 
branch of the Red fork with its red water and quick- 
sands. After passing two branches of this, we found 
ourselves on the Salt plain, which was apparently 
only an upper level of the bed of the aforesaid stream 
as level as a floor — overflowed evidently, and now 
dry, with the slightest possible film of crystalized 
Salt on the surface, enough to make it white. We 
went about two miles on the plain without getting 
half over it. Such was the effect of Mirage on the 
plain that we could not see across it, and the buffalo 
bones whitening in the sun looked like large, white 
animals in the distance. Buffalo appeared to be 
standing in water, and, in fact, the whole plain ap- 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 203 

peared as if surrounded by water. No source of this 
salt was discovered. Water in pools near the Red 
fork branch (supposed to be the Semarone [Cimar- 
ron] ) was brackish, while the stream itself was not 
more so than at other points. From this, it is evi- 
dent that the Salt has a local origin. No rock for- 
mation was passed on our route to throw light on the 
geological position of this Salt. At camp is the same 
red sand stone and red clay which have colored the 
soil since we were one day off from the Arkansas. 
There was no vegetation on the plain that in its 
borders appeared of the same character as in the 
rest of the Country. This plain is called the Pawsa 
Salt plain by the Osages — or big Salt. Buffalo in 
great abundance, and some Deer near the plain. 

21st day. 16th days' marching. June 3rd Satur- 
day. — Started at 7 A. M. and marched 20 miles 
north, and encamped on some ravines of the Shaw- 
wa-cos-pag river, where there were good springs of 
water — our journey to day was through the prairie, 
passing but two or three cotton wood trees all day. 
The water was sulphurous, and the rock gypsum and 
red sand stone dipping to the S. W. very slightly. 
The gypsum is mixed up with sandy marl and the 
strata very friable, with occasional lumps of solid 
gypsum, each lump containing gypsum in its three 
forms. An efflorescence was observed over this marl 
of some whitish salt which the horses were fond of; 
it was not, however, from Common Salt. Part of the 
day, the soil was red, the latter part of the day we 
came to a yellowish alluvion on the red. our camp 



204 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

was on the red again. From tlie hills back of our 
camp the view was extensive, looking over the Coun- 
try for 30 miles in every direction — No timber of 
any amount (more than two or three trees together) 
can be seen — Passed great quantities of Prairie dog 
towns — No buffalo — a few Deer, hares, and Ante- 
lope. — one wild turkey was seen near our camp to 
night. About 4 miles from Camp passed the Pa-ha- 
bee creek, called so by the osages from a man who 
was killed there. — A horse of ''H" Compy was 
missing this morning. — 

22nd day. 17tli day's marching; June 4th Sun- 
day. — Started about 7 A. M. After coming 2 miles 
N. 20°. E. Came to the Sha-wa-cos-pay river, run- 
ning S. E. — This is a principal branch of the Nes- 
cu-tamga, or big Salt river heretofore called the Red 
fork of the Arkansas. After coming 15 miles north 
from this, we came on the Ne-ne-scah, or clear water 
river, course E. S. E. The beds of both these streams 
were near 50 yards wide, the streams rapid, shallow, 
and quick sandy, with scarcely any timber on them. 
The course of all the streams we have passed in the 
last two days are marked by hills of sand along their 
banks, drifted into heaps by the winds. Saw no 
buffalo all day except one, and he was very poor — 
The Indians had driven them off — The vegetation, 
the same as before — observed one new plant, a sort 
of vine [drawing in MS.] growing on the hard soil — 
also a sort of dent de lion [drawing in MS.] and the 
Spanish bayonet [drawing in MS.]. The only out 
crop of rock passed over was a sort of blue clay 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 205 

slate, dipping slightly to the S. W. and supposed to 
nnderlye the gypsum of last night. Encamped on a 
clear stream, a branch of the Ne-ne-scah, running 
south, our course to day was n. 5°. E. distance 20 
miles. 

23rd day. 18th day's marching. June 5th Mon- 
day. — Started about 7 A. M. after marching about 
10 miles n. we came in sight of the Arkansas River, 
and at the same time met a party of Osages who we 
evidently surprised, and one of them was riding one 
of the mules stolen from us on the night of the 29th 
May. This fixed the theft on the Osages, and the 
Captain took away the guns and four horses of this 
party, telling them that when they brought his horses 
they should have them back again. They gave up to 
us ten guns, their bows and arrows, and four ponies ; 
and went off in a southern direction. The command 
crossed the Arkansas and encamped 12 miles north, 
from their last night's encampment. Passed to day 
an outcrop of whitish clay slate similar to that 
passed yesterday, very nearly horizontal. Under 
this was clay of the same color. This formation, no 
doubt, is very extensive and gives color to the Ar- 
kansas River, which is very much lighter in color at 
this point than below the junction with its red 
branches. Met moschetoes in quantities for the first 
time, to night. Passed only one buffalo. One of the 
men killed an antelope, the meat of which was very 
tender and delicate. Saw a few deer. Timber, 
scarcely any. on the Arkansas, a few scattered cot- 
ton w^ood and willow. The river in [blank in MS.] 



206 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

banks and broad bed about knee deep to our horses, 
less quicksand than on its red branches. Course at 
this point a little S. E. perhaps 20°. — 

24th day. 19th day's marching. June 6th. Tues- 
day. Marched at 7. A. M. and travelled 12 miles 
north. The course thro' open prairie for 7 miles, 
then got into sand hills of 20 or 30 feet in height 
ranging E and W. then came on the prairie and en- 
camped on a clear water creek flowing S. E. This 
water is apparently pure coming out of the sand 
hills. These hills, like those near the Salt plains, 
have low places, sometimes with standing water, and 
where there is no water on the surface, it may be 
gotten by digging a few feet. On these hills were a 
few scattering cotton wood bushes, on one of the 
kinds were some wild ducks, which, apparently, 
breed there. 

25th day. 20th day's marching; June 7th 
Wednesday. Marched at >^ past 6. Spent some 
time in getting over the Creek — which was a worse 
job than crossing the Arkansas — . — Travelled about 
8 miles north and encamped on a grove of timber 
within 4 miles of the Sante Fe trail, our journey 
entirely through prairie. Found recent horse tracks 
of 3 or 4 horses here, and some signs of recent en- 
campment and an old camp. Killed one Elk to day 
— meat very delicate — Called the grove 'Mulberry 
grove ' — 

26th day. 21 day's marching. June 8th Thurs- 
day. Marched at yi past 6 and travelled 19 miles 
W. S. W. and encamped on the Little Arkansas most 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 207 



of one day's march was on the Sante Fe trace, which 
we fell into 4 miles from camp of yesterday. At the 
Little Arkansas we found a small party of traders, 
five persons and one wagin, going to trade in Sante 
fe and then settle in California. A cold, sleety rain 
fell on us all day and the wind from the north. At 
night the rain increased and made our night very 
uncomfortable. The stream we are encamped on, is 
the same we encamped on, the 6th. Those traders 
inform us that the Governor of Sante Fe is expected 
at the Arkansas with an escort to the traders. The 
trail crossing the Arkansas 30 miles from this. — 
The old Spaniard who was robbed last spring, was 
killed near our camp of yesterday. 

27th day. 22 day's marching. June 9th Friday. 
The rain ceased about 10 A. M. marched at 12 and 
came W. S. W. 9 miles and encamped on a large 
creek putting into the Arkansas above our Camp of 
June 5th. This creek was at first taken for the 
Arkansas river itself — our first four miles was 
through the prairie, then, for 2 miles through the 
Sand hills which we passed in another place on the 
6th — No Buffalo in sight to day. After travelling 
through the Sand hills we came to the open prairie 
and travelled about 2 miles. The timber on this 
creek is Elm and Box Elder and not large ; it grows 
in groves along the course of the stream, some places 
an acre or two covered with it. — 
The traders in company. — 28th day. 23rd day's 
marching. June 10th Saturday Started at >^ past 
6. and after travelling 5 miles S. W. came to the 



208 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Arkansas river, at a point, where for miles up and 
down, not a tree was growing. Crossed with some 
difficulty as the river was rising and followed the 
right bank up passing through some swamp and 
sand hills for 7 miles, then came to a creek of some 
size with water almost as salt as the ocean. After 
passing this we came up the river 3 miles further 
and encamped in a thicket of Chickasaw plum 
bushes, and other brush. The grass and wood and 
water being in no other place so close together. The 
water in the river as cold as ice water, and almost 
milk white from the mud and sand. 

29th day. 24th days marching. June 11th Sun- 
day. Captain Boone, Lts. [John] Buford and An- 
derson and 12 men started this morning after buf- 
falo with a hope of finding some within 10 miles, 
though there none in sight. After travelling south 
about 20 miles they fell in with buffalo and having 
loaded their horses returned to Camp which they 
reached at 2 o'clock the next morning. Their first 
4 miles was through Sand hills or drifting sand and 
in one place, a lake near a mile long, of salt water; 
they then went 8 miles through an open prairie and 
then got into the sand hills again. They passed two 
creeks, perhaps branches of the Salt Creek of yester- 
day, else, they are creeks lost in the sand — To the 
S. E. of their course was a vast sand plain. During 
their absence the Camp was moved 2 miles S. W. 
Still on the bank of the river. Parties out from 
Camp discovered a small Salt plain on the Salt 
branch of the Creek of yesterday, about 4 miles from 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 209 

Camp. S. The salt was crystalized on a place which 
the water overflowed similar to the Pawsa — called 
this Creek Carbine Creek, from a man losing his 
carbine there — near 200 Elk seen within 10 miles 
of Camp and plenty of buffalo S. W. within 5 miles 
beyond a high range of sand hills. — 

30th day. June 12 Monday. — Remained in Camp 
all day, and sent out a party to watch the buffalo 
seen S. W. yesterday. — 

31st day. 25th days marching. June 13th Tues- 
day. Marched up the river about 5 miles and sent 
off a party for buffalo and encamped. After a short 
time, the Dragoons from Fort Leavenworth were 
seen on the trace across the river. Supposing the 
crossing to be near as the Indians had represented 
and also the citizens we had in Company, the Camp 
was broken up and the column got ready to move 
higher up. About this time Lieut Johnston rode 
into Camp from the chase with a severe wound in 
his foot; his gun, which was slung to the saddle, 
having gone off, accidentally, and a ball, of, about 
12 to the pound, passed through his foot. As soon 
as this was dressed, he was placed in a wagon and 
the march continued, and camp was again made 
about 10 miles west of the camp of the 11th on the 
right bank of the Arkansas opposite to the Walnut 
creek on the Sante Fe trace. On this Creek the 
Dragoons from Fort Leavenworth, under Capt. 
Cooke, were encamped, consisting of Companies A. 
F. & H. Co. C being back on the trace with the 
traders. We here found that the trace crosses the 



15 



210 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

[?] 100 miles above this point: we also learnt that 
the traders felt no apprehension that Col. War- 
field had only 30 men with him instead of 6 or 700. 
We were informed that Charvis [Chavez] ; the Mex- 
ican who was murdered, had been killed on the Little 
Arkansas. This evening our Camp was surrounded 
by thousands of buffalo, and the grass very much 
eaten off by them. 

32d. day. June 14th Wednesday. — All the men 
employed in drying buffalo meat to day. This night 
we had a terrible thunder storm with a great quan- 
tity of hail and wind. All our tents blew down, 
except two or three, and some of our horses ran 
away. We recovered these, however, the next day. — 

33rd. day. June 15th Thursday. The river rising, 
and no crossing. Parties out in search of horses 
succeeded in bringing all of them in : This night we 
had another terrible thunder storm with not quite so 
much wind and hail, and being better prepared few- 
er of our tents blew down. 

34th day. June 16th Friday. This morning the 
citizens with their wagon made an effort to get over 
the river, and a Sergeant and four mules from H & 
E Companies were sent to assist them. The Quick- 
sand being bad, one of the mules of Co. H. was 
drowned and two wagon Saddles lost. This day a 
hunting party was sent out and brought in one ante- 
lope and some buffalo. — 

35th day. June 17. Saturday. — River still 
rising — a pretty severe rain fell this morning — 
cleared off about 11 o'clock, still a very heavy black 
cloud in the S. with thunder. — 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 211 

36th day. June 18th Sunday. — River falling a 
little. Afternoon several herds of buffalo came 
thro ' camp, or near it, crossing the river just below 
— parties met them on the prairie and killed several. 
In destroying them, the surest weapon is a short 
barrelled shot-gun carrying a large ball ; as they are 
the most easily managed. The meat on the rump 
generally the most tender as the muscles in that 
quarter are not much used, the closer to the bones 
the better. We cut the meat off and cut it in long 
strings and place it on a low scaffold of poles, over a 
brisk fire; and in one day with the sun it is dry 
enough to pack away for use. A little salt will aid 
in curing but it is not absolutely required. The fat of 
the buffalo is more oily than tallow and is better for 
cooking. In selecting an animal from the herd to kill, 
one should look to their thickness through the hump, 
they will be the fattest that are broadest through 
there, and plump. For a mile or two they run almost 
as fast as a horse and are then easily caught. Their 
hides are very thick and from the form of the Ani- 
mal they are well adapted to make skin boats of. 
Capt Boone showed us how to make one. thus : get 
poles a little larger than a man's wrist and split 
them and bend them over, sticking both ends in the 
ground, for the ribs of the boat, some longitudinally 
and others transversely, making the boat 8 or 10 
feet long according to the size of the skin, and four 
or five, or six feet wide, one pole along the keel and 
others obliquely [drawing in MS.] from stem to 
stern to give shape to the boat. Then [?] the poles 



212 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

together with thongs. Lay the skin down with the 
hair next the ribs and stretch it down to the whaling 
or rib which forms the gunwhale of the boat, trim off 
the edges and cut loop holes through it and lash it 
along, let it dry in the sun if you have time, if not 
reverse it at once, and cut off any part of the ribs 
that stick up in the way. An extra strip may be put 
on around the gunwhale on the outside. One of 
these boats is not easily paddled in a rapid current 
or in high wind. The safest way is for a man to 
wade or swim and tow the boat along. One of these 
boats will carry 800 lbs. To lash several together, 
they are placed two and two along side, and one in 
bow and stern [drawing in MS.] with poles lashed 
across the top longitudinally and transversely. In 
this way they increase in buoyancy and become more 
manageable. Six boats thus secured would float 
6000 lbs. To stop a bullet hole in the hide a skewer 
of hard wood is run through from each side and a 
thread wrapped around under each end of it, as a 
needle is secured in a coat [drawing in MS.] 

37th day June 19th Monday. The river still fall- 
ing. No tidings of the traders. Saw some cattle 
feeding on the hills on the other side of the river, 
which we found, belonged to Mr. Bent from Bent's 
Fort, on the Arkansas, who is awaiting the arrival 
of some more of his party from above before going 
in to Missouri. He informs us that all the grass had 
been eaten off by the Buffalo between this and the 
mountains, so that his cattle nearly starved. The 
day was fair, with a strong wind from the S. all 
day. 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 213 

38tli day. June 20th Tuesday. Buffalo came 
near camp again and crossed the river at our side. 
The officers started after them and killed 3 within a 
short distance of Camp the river at this point runs 
nearly N. E. coming still more from the south west 
little west for 10 miles. The camping grounds are 
not very good on this side for twenty miles or more 
below this point. Though there is timber above and 
below for 15 miles. Heard to day through Capt 
Cooke, that the traders with Capt Moore & Co. *'C." 
were water bound on the Cow Creek — Wind, Strong 
S. 

39tli day. June 21st. Wednesday. Captain 
Cooke informs us to day that the traders have 47 
Wagons, including 3 dearbornes, that (Armiko) 
Armijo^^^ is the principal Mexican, Dr. East, the 
American and, probably. Captain — As the traders 
had gotten within 12 miles and there was no guessing 
at, when the water would allow them to come on, and 
as they appeared by the intelligence furnished by 
Capt Cooke, to be in no sort of apprehension of an 
attack ; we prepared for a move tomorrow. 

40th day. 26th day's, marching. June 22nd. 
Thursday. Started at 7 A. M. and marched 15 miles 
S. 3°. W. and encamped on the open prairie on the 
heads of a creek supposed to be the creek on which 
we encamped on the 4th of June. No timber in sight 
since we left the river. The first 7 miles of our jour- 
ney was through a light sandy soil, the rest clayey. 
Saw some Buffalo, and passed some of the largest 
buffalo roads bearing to E. S. E. probably to the 



214 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Salt in that region. — This night we had to resort to 
buffalo dung for fuel — it burns like peat — we made 
furnaces of sod, and found it to be excellent fuel. 

41st day. 27th days marching. June 23d. Fri- 
day. Marched at >4 past 7. and travelled 18 miles 
S 10° W. and encamped again on the open prairie 
on a pond of water — Country very level the first 6 
miles, thro' clayey soil and flat prairie, the next 6, 
thro' low sand hills, then open prairie again. We 
got on one eminence of 20 feet above the level 2 
miles before we encamped, and saw a grand sight of 
perhaps 10,000 Buffalo feeding on the plain below 
as far as the eye could reach. Here we saw a herd 
of wild horses of a dozen in number — They ran oif 
through the herds of buffalo, which did not seem to 
mind them — Water tonight filled with animalculae 
and water insects — used buffalo dung for fires. 
Encamped early on account of the grass. — 

42nd day. 28th day marching. June 24th Satur- 
day. Marched at >^ past 7. travelled 12 miles S. 
10° W. and encamped on the waters of the Ne-ne- 
scah where they break out in springs along the 
banks and through the sand from the sunken water 
from above, as the Creek where we first came to it 
four miles from Camp had a dry bed, the waters 
being lost in the sand. A mile or two further they 
course out again, and at this point the stream is, 
apparently, permanent. Springs of excellent water, 
groves of timber, and hills hemming in our encamp- 
ment on all sides, — with good grass makes it one of 
the most pleasant ones we have had. Our march 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 215 

to day was over more undulating prairie, passing 
one creek about 5 miles from Camp this morning 
with no timber on it, running E. S. E. Started a 
wild horse to day, and one of the officers chasing it 
fell in with a herd of about 30, headed by a large 
white horse with black spots on his croup. — Saw 
plenty of Buffalo to day, and Elk came near our 
camp this evening. The course of the Creek S. E. 
where we first saw it, its bed was much larger than 
where it commenced to run, as if a large river was 
lost in the sand, and a small rivulet started below 
that point. In the sand found was a quantity of 
dark sand which was strongly attracted by the 
magnet. — 

43rd day. June 25th. Sunday. Laid in Camp 
all day on account of the sickness of one of the men 
— Parties of men and officers today brought in 
specimens of gypsum in all its forms, buffalo were 
killed, partridges, rabbits and turkeys were seen 
near camp. To this point the buffalo roads from all 
directions were converging, it being a favourite re- 
sort no doubt, in summer — 

44th day. 29th day's marching. June 26th Mon- 
day. Marched about 8. After coming a mile or two 
w^e got on the high ridges where we had a most 
gratifying sight in one of the most curious, as well 
as, beautiful countries we have seen. Before us 8 or 
10 miles lay the bed of the Sha wa Caspa R[iver?] 
a deep and abrupt valley of not more than two miles 
in width from which ran out in every direction, short 
creeks and ravines, cutting up the Country into a 



216 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

multitude of little valleys, in each of which there 
were patches of timber; all of which was below the 
general surface of the Country, so that one might 
approach very near to one of these streams without 
seeing it. The views from the top of the ridges was 
extensive and grand. We found the hills to be com- 
posed of gypsum alternating with red clay. The 
gypsum was in all its forms. Crossed the Sha wa 
cas pa [River] and encamped in a small branch half 
a mile from it. This water was not good: muddy 
and brackish. Near our camp the hills had, from 
the washing assumed various fantastic forms. Trav- 
eled South 12 Miles to day. [Several drawings in 
MS.] The seams of Gypsum often projecting out 
from the hill sides often formed an almost insur- 
mountable obstacle to climbing up them. This of 
course was only the case when the hill was cut off 
from the chain. Killed some Elk and Buffalo near 
Camp — 

45th day. 30th day's marching. June 27th. 
Tuesday. Marched about 8. course S. 10 miles — 
the first four miles very difficult climbing the hills 
on the South side of the river, found Gypsum here 
in greater quantities, pure, white, hard, and soft. 
Dripping over the rocks was found a small spring 
tasting very strong of Epsom salts. On the ridges 
we were joined by a band of Osages who took us to 
their camp when we encamped for the purpose of 
gaining information. The Country was similar to 
that of yesterday with many grand views from the 
hill tops. Water, not good, but creeks every two 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 217 

miles. — The chief of the Osages was To-ca-sab-be. 
Some of his people wanted the guns and horses we 
had taken from To-wan-ga-ha's people, but we could 
not give them to them, as they were not the owners. 
They informed us that it was three days march West 
of South to the Salt Rock and two days to the nes- 
ga-tung a or Pewsa Salt plain, and that the creek 
we were on was a branch of nes ca tin ga which 
emptied itself at the salt plain. This latter infor- 
mation we are disposed to doubt as we expect to 
see the Shaw-was-cos-pay, yet crossing our course 

— Strata dip slightly S. E. water courses running 
north of east. — 

46tJi day. 31st day marching. June 28th 
Wednesday. Started at 8 and travelled 15 miles S 
5 W — After travelling 9 miles crossed a River 
which we take to be the Sha wa-cos-pay, which the 
Indians tell us is the nescutunga. Our route for the 
first 8 miles was over the high prairie ridges where 
we could see right and left for 20 miles, the country 
rolling off in successive ridges as far as the eye 
could reach. The last five miles we got along with 
difficulty as we came again into the gypseous hills — 
Water at the river and in the spring of the ravines, 
the latter with some mineral taste. Saw buffalo and 
one herd of wild horses. The river ran S. of East. 

— Timber, Cedar, and tallow tree, cotton Wood and 
Elm — one character given to the country by the 
Gypsum is that the Soil is very hard when dry, and 
the streams are difficult to cross from the depth of 
the [courses?], and when wet, are swampy. 



218 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

47th day. 32nd day marching. June 29th Thurs- 
day. Started at 8, travelled S. S. W. 18 miles and 
encamped on the branches of a stream supposed to 
be the nescatunga. Our first five miles was in get- 
ting out of the heads of the hollows of the stream we 
encamped on. — Here we encountered the Gypsum 
hills again, capped and washed as those of the 26th. 
June — the caps were of a strata some ten feet 
thick, of friable over lying red clay — strata still 
dipping slightly S. E. Found the gypsum in im- 
mense chrystaline plates perfectly transparent on 
the heads of a stream flowing S to the river now in 
front of us. Water scarce to day, also timber, route 
rough in many places ; saw a few buffalo and crossed 
one indian trail going West. When we came on the 
ridges, 8 miles back, we saw near the stream in front 
of us, a large extent of surface covered with white 
substance — no doubt. Salt. 

[drawings in MS.] 

48th day. 33rd days marchings. June 30th. 
Friday. Broke up camp and moved 4 miles S. S. W. 
to the vicinity of the Salt plain. Salt in great abun- 
dance was found, chrystalized on the surface of the 
plain which like the Pew-sa is nothing more than a 
wide bed of the river. It is in a sort of bottom mak- 
ing it wider than the average width of the river. 
The average width is near a mile — The rock Salt 
appears to lay near the surface of the water here 
and springs boiling up through it cover the surface 
with a concentrated solution which at once begins to 
deposite chrystals — a crust of chrystals is now on 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 219 

the plain in many places an inch in thickness, and is 
easily obtained, perfectly clean and as white as any- 
thing can be. The quantity of Salt appears to be 
unlimited. — Mustered to day. 

49th day. 34th day's marching. July 1st Satur- 
day. Broke up camp and moved across the river and 
Salt plain S. W. 4 miles and encamped on a small 
creek of water slightly brackish, but as good as any 
we have found in the gypsum. In crossing the river 
we had some trouble in the quicksand with the wag- 
ons. The bed of the river and Salt plain was about 
two miles wide ; the salt, not as generally covering it 
as the Pew-sa, but thicker in the places where found 
than what we saw at the big salt. This afternoon it 
rained and Talle, the Osage Chief, and his people 
came and encamped with us. They informed us that 
all the chrystalized salt on the surface of the plain 
is washed off when it rains heavily (probably only 
dissolved) and that in a few days the sun brings it 
back again. 

50th day. July 2nd Sunday. Parties went out 
after buffalo this morning, and numbers were killed 
near our Camp. A party went to explore the Salt 
plain and search for the Rock Salt. The whole cave 
on the right of the two forks of the river appeared to 
be one immense salt spring of water so much concen- 
trated that as soon as it reaches the point of break- 
ing forth it begins depositing its salt. In this way a 
large crust or Rock is formed all over the bottom 
for perhaps 160 acres.^^^ Digging through the sand 
for a few inches anywhere in this space we could find 



220 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

the solid Salt, so hard that there was no means in 
our power of getting up a block of it. We broke our 
mattock in the attempt. In many places through 
this Rock salt crust the water boiled up as clear as 
chrystal ; tempting to one suffering from thirst ; but 
so salt, that our hands after being immersed in it 
and suffered to dry, became as white as snow. 
Thrusting the arm down one of these holes they ap- 
peared to be walled with salt as far down as the 
arm could reach. The Cliffs which overhang this 
place are composed of red clay and gypsum and 
capped with a stratum of gypsum, no doubt the 
same as that which capped the hills we passed on 
the 29th of June. If such be the fact (and there can 
be no doubt of it) The source of these springs lays 
to the north, and if there be Rock Salt in this forma- 
tion, it would be found among the hills we have been 
crossing for the last few days. — We found this Salt 
a little bitter from the impurities it contains, prob- 
ably, Epsom Salt principally. We are now satisfied 
that this river must be the Semarone [Cimarron], 
Two forks came together here the north comes here 
from the N. W. the South, from the South West. 
The river flows a little south of East after the junc- 
tion in a sandy bed a mile wide, [drawing in MS.] 
The indians inform us that there is salt between this 
and the north fork of the Canadian, 4 days journey 
hence — It seems probable that this river is not the 
same with the one in which we found the big Salt. 
The north fork is the Semarone [Cimarron]. — 

51st day. 35th day's marching July 3rd. Mon- 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 221 

day. Broke up Camp and marched for the nescu- 
bhe-toh-ta or salt in the plain away from the river. 
Marched 15 miles east, crossing the river 8 miles 
from Camp where we discovered in the bluff a strata 
of blue clay underlying the red clay, and about on 
the level of the salt spring of yesterday. This clay 
and the red in these bluffs taste quite salty; probably 
from these the Salt Springs come. These strata 
capped with gj^sum out crop all along the river in 
bluffs near 100 feet high ; giving a picturesque char- 
acter to the scenery. Above on the high prairie 
mounds of the same material show from afar pro- 
jected against the horizon in the Salt region [draw- 
ing in MS.] might indicate their proximity. The 
route to day was difficult for wagons, — part gypsum 
and part sand hills. Encamped on a creek among 
low sand hills — water bad and scarce — The strata 
on the hill tops on the south side of the river appear 
to have a dip to the north at this point as if there 
was a bend in the strata along the line of the river, 
though the general dip is, no doubt, from the moun- 
tains. As this formation of gypsum and red clay 
outcrops along in a line W. of South until it is found 
at the paunee peaks. In one place on the Canadian 
it forms a deep channel for the river of 8 or 10 miles 
of steep walls on each side with no streams putting 
in on either side. 

52nd day. 36th day's marching July 4th Tues- 
day. Marched 4 miles E. S. E. and encamped on a 
pretty grove of Elm, hackberry. Tallow tree, and 
chittim [wood] with good grass and water. — and 



222 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

buffalo in sight, concluded to spend the 4th and rest 
the teams which are nearly worn out. The country 
sandy, with a few sand hills. Spent the Fourth in 
roasting fine Buffalo meat. — Cured some. — 

53rd day. 37th day's marching — Jiily 5. 
Wednesday. Marched about 8. from our pleasant 
encampment course 18 miles E. S. E. our journey 
was over low sand hills generally, covered with 
grass; with one or two plains intervening. The 
Semarone lay on our right all day with its high 
gypsum banks ranging along its southern shore. 
Encamped within a mile and a half of the river on a 
creek of good water running out of the sand. Came 
this afternoon to some black jack oak groves, some 
of the trees two feet in diameter. This is the first 
black jack we have seen since we first came among 
the Red water on the other side of the east branches 
of the Red Fork or Nescatunga. The grove near our 
Camp has mulberry, bitter elm, & dog wood. 

54th day. 38th day's marching July 6. Thurs- 
day. Marched about 8. came S. 50° E. 10 miles. 
We first marched S. 4 miles and crossed the Sema- 
rone [Cimarron] or Big Red Fork, where its sandy 
bed was a mile wide with no water, scarcely, running. 
On the surface of the sand an occasional spot would 
have a slight film of salt chrystalized on it. The 
route on the north side of the river was through sand 
hills with clear water, on the south side thro' a plain 
of red soil laying at the back of high gypsum hills a 
mile or two to our right. The gulleys difficult for 
wagons to get over. Encamped on a creek with 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOUKNAL 223 

muddy bed running north. The river a half mile to 
our north, running E. S. E., not finding the salt de- 
scribed by the Indians, here ; we intend retracing our 
steps a little tomorrow, as we must have passed it. 
Private Bean of E. Co died, at this camp at 9 P. M. 
of a desease of the brain of old standing. He has 
been hauled in the wagon since we left the Arkansas 
Eiver. — 

55th day. 39th day's marching. July 7th Fri- 
day. Buried Bean on the bank of the creek, near a 
Cotton AYood tree, which was marked with his name. 
Called the Creek Dragoon Creek, from the circum- 
stances of his death. It is 3 miles west of what we 
suppose to be the last of the gypsum hills on the 
right bank of the Semarone. Marched 10 miles 
West — Route along the river first north West, then 
off South — very rough the high gypsum cliffs over- 
hanging us all day. Some of them very picturesque, 
all near 200 feet high. The strata of blue clay which 
lay at the bed of the river at the nes cu ca sea pay is 
here some distance up the cliff. Still there does not 
appear any reason to doubt that the strata dip S. E. 
They are so nearly horizontal however, that it is 
impossible to make sure by the eye. It is probable 
that there is a logal [local] dip to the north near the 
rock salt as the water boils up on the south side of 
the river. If not, the spring must come under the 
river and boil up on the south side. It is evident, 
however, that the general dip of these strata is from 
the mountains. Capt Boone has observed these 
gypsum S. S. W. from this at the Paunee Peaks, 



224 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

south of this. On the Canadian it forms a channel 
for the river called a canyon by the Spaniards, or a 
deep channel for 800 miles with no streams putting 
into it and very difficult to cross. — We searched for 
the salt on the plain away from the river, as de- 
scribed by the Osages, but saw nothing of it. Con- 
cluded to march westward tomorrow to get into the 
buffalo again. Encamped on a creek running north. 
56th day. 40th day's inarching. July 8th Satur- 
day. Marched about 8. 20 miles S 30° W. and en- 
camped on the north fork of the Canadian. Our 
route lay, for 10 miles, up the divide between two 
creeks — branches of the Semarone [Cimarron] — 
the one we encamped on, and the one we crossed at 
mid-day yesterday. After we got on the ridg« be- 
tween the Semarone and the north Fork, we came 
into a dense thicket of black jack which we had to 
cut through for near a mile, we then came in sight 
of the north fork, and came down to it through a 
skirt of prairie with thickets of black jack on either 
side. The gypsum dipped under the hills we climb 
this morning, and we are now in a sandy country. 
No buffalo. The vegetation changing somewhat with 
the soil. Throughout the gypsum country the red 
cedar grew on the high point of the hollows, in some 
places, abundantly, low down, the tallow tree and a 
sort of mock orange called the chittim wood by Capt 
Boone, with Cotton wood and bitter elm formed the 
greatest part of the forest trees. From the time we 
left the ne-ne-Sea until we got out of the gypsum all 
the water was rendered unfit, unpalatable by the 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 225 

solution of various salts: In some cases the rice 
boiled in the water was so bitter as to be unfit to eat. 
We could not detect any, by the taste, except the 
Epsom and Glauber Salts : but as the water rendered 
the mouth sore, we presumed, there was sulphate of 
iron (vitriol) in it. In this route from the Arkansas 
to the North fork, the greatest difficulty in the pas- 
sage of troops will be the scarcity of grass near 
wood and water. In the dry season the grass would 
be very much burnt up. — 

57th day. 41st day's marching. July 9th Sun- 
day. Marched about 8. After a shower, and went 
5 miles S. W. and, a storm approaching, we halted 
and encamped. After the rain went round, we 
struck our tents and moved 7 miles further South 
and encamped on the creek we halted on this morn- 
ing running N. E. into the north fork; on this we 
found the slippery elm, the mulberry, and a sort of 
black walnut with many appearances to indicate its 
being a new variety. The country passed over to 
day was gently rolling, and covered with fine grass ; 
slight skirts of timber on all the creeks : soil, red and 
sandy — No buffalo yet and very little sign. The 
Country is no[t] hunted by the osages; they do not 
pass the north fork, it is believed, and small bands 
of creeks, and other Indians keep the Buffalo fright- 
ened off from this range. — 

58th day. 42nd day's marching. July loth Mon- 
day. — Marched about 8. Rain again in the morning 
before we started. Came 8 miles S. W. and en- 
camped on a stream which is quite large and with a 

16 



226 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

sandy bed, but no running water. This may be the 
main Canadian but we think it is too near. The 
Country begins to look gypseous again. On the 
ridge we passed a thicket of low blackjack. Buffalo 
roads very large, but saw only one Buffalo. This 
evening a party of 8 or 10 Caddoes came to Camp — 
they inform us that there are very few buffalo in the 
country. 

59th day. 43rd day's marching. July 11th Tues- 
day. Marched about 8 and came 4 miles S. and en- 
camped on the south side of the Canadian on a small 
Creek. Bought some Buffalo meat of the Caddoes, 
who are in camp near us. There was very little wa- 
ter running in the river where we crossed it. and 
that soon sunk in the sands. The bed of the River 
half a mile wide the Course S. E. To the west the 
high gypsum hills show themselves. About 20 miles 
off. 

60th day. 44th day's marching. July 12. 
Wednesday. Marched about 7. travelled about 16 
miles E and encamped on the waters of a Creek 
flowing from the Canadian. Suppose it to be one 
emptying into that river 20 miles below this. This 
Creek heads directly on the bluffs of the river. Off 
to the North we see a long range of cross timber on 
the ridge beyond the Canadian, which is in appear- 
ance similar to that crossed before cutting to the 
north fork on the 8th July. This, and the fact that 
the Canadian takes a turn to the north here, induces 
an idea, that maybe the river we took to be the North 
fork puts into the Canadian there : this is also 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 227 

strengthened, by the river being longer where we 
crossed it, than the North Fork should be. Fell in 
with three buffalo this evening and killed two : which 
will enable us to lay by tomorrow and explore the 
country north, and rest our mules. The Country 
passed over to day was high, giving us a sight of 
hills to the south of the False washita twenty or 
thirty miles. The formation was gypsum, and 
passed hills of it shortly after we left camp, with the 
strata contorted in every direction, face of the 
country beautiful — grass excellent — Saw 7 wild 
horses. Timber scarce; but enough on the Creeks 
for Camping purposes at all times. 

61st day. July 13th Thursday. — Remained in 
Camp all day. Capt Boone went out to explore, to 
the north — found it to be 15 miles to the Canadian. 
No signs of the river we supposed to be the North 
Fork, coming into .it, though that seemed probable 
from the size of the river and from the course of the 
Canadian at this point. — 

62nd day. 45th day's marching. July 14th Fri- 
day. Marched about 8. Travelled 18 miles E. S. E. 
The first ten miles in the gypsum hills with deep and 
precipitous ravines. Crossed one of these at an old 
buffalo road, and found white oak and cedar trees 
with others, in it, and stratum of red sand stone 
capped with gypsum dipping S. E. After we got 
out of this, we rose on a beautiful level prairie with 
luxuriant grass, which had two small herds of wild 
horses on it. This level country continued for 8 
miles further, with little interruption. We en- 



228 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

camped on a small prairie ravine which cut its way 
through the red sand stone we passed this morning. 
There were three prairie mounds of 40 or 50 feet in 
height on the last 8 miles of our route. During the 
day the valley of the Canadian lay 5 or 6 miles to our 
left, with a thick forest of cross timber capping the 
ridge beyond the whole way. 

63rd day. 46th day's marching. July 15th Sat- 
urday. Marched about 8. Travelled S. E. 15 miles. 
After starting, was compelled to leave an old horse 
of Company D, which had taken sick during the 
night. Our route to day, generally, over level prai- 
rie, with the valley of a large creek to the right. 
The prairie cut up with ravines occasionally run- 
ning through the red sand stone of yesterday. -The 
ridge beyond the Canadian still capped with thickets 
of trees, probably black jack. To the South-East, a 
row of high prairie mounds beyond the creek. Camp 
071 the left bank of the creek above mentioned which 
empties into the Canadian half a mile from this. 
Called the creek Cow wa map sha from the wild 
horses we saw on it. — Course of this creek, N. E. — 

64th day. 47th day's marching. July 16th Sun- 
day. Marched about 8. Travelled 12 miles E. S. E. 
After crossing the Creek at camp, at a good crossing, 
we came within two miles to another with a deep bed 
in the red sand rock. This creek we had to head a 
mile or two to the South. The first four miles of 
our route was over a generally level country. We 
then came into a country, with high parallel ridges 
running into the river. — Towards evening the hills 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 229 

became more abrupt, covered with black-jack — 
Camp on a creek, the head of which is in a very 
broken country. Vegetation changing — white oak, 
wahiut and slippery elm on the creeks, on the prairie 
abundance of chickasaw plums, dwarf buckeye, and 
dwarf oak. — 

65tli day. 48th day's marching. July 17th Mon- 
day. — Marched about 8. Travelled 19 miles E. S. E. 
Most of the country passed over was beautiful. A 
large creek on the right with heavy masses of timber 
on the ravines running to the Canadian to our left. 
We kept the dividing ridge all day which was cut 
across by hollows from the creek to the river. Wa- 
ter scarce, and the day hot, with a good many flies : 
our animals suffered very much. Encamped on this 
creek which runs north at this point and goes into 
the Canadian within a few miles — Camp in sand 
hills very low, on the left bank of the creek. 

66th day. 49th day marching, July 18th Tuesday. 
Marched about jE^ past 8. Travelling 14 miles East. 
Parted from Lieut Johnston and Company to day: 
he striking for Fort Washita agreeably to his orders, 
and we making for the Canadian, with the view of 
crossing it, and travelling on the dividing ridge of 
the Canadian and Little River. The Canadian where 
we crossed it ran E. S. E. its bed very nearly dry; 
water only being found at the mouths of the various 
creeks putting into it, but soon swallowed up by the 
sand composing the bed of the river. Banks of the 
Canadian on either side consisting of Sand hills ex- 
tending from half to a full mile from its shores and 



230 MARCHES OP THE DRAGOONS 

covered with plum thickets, bearing a fine large red 
fruit, which we found ripe and very palatable. Met 
our Shawnee friends who state the distance to 
Choteau's trading house as trifling. Country — 
after leaving the sand hills — rolling prairie inter- 
sected by numerous wooded creeks rendering the 
scenery very pleasing to the eye. Camped on a 
Creek running into Little River, north. Cross tim- 
bers [blank in MS.] up 4 miles from our Camp. 

GYth day 50 day's march July 19th Wednesday. 
Started about 7. Travelled E. on what we thought 
to be the divide between Little River and the Cana- 
dian, making a distance of 14 miles, and passing over 
a flat prairie country, very much parched up by the 
summer heat. Vegetation very scant; the buffalo 
grass having been eaten down very close by the buf- 
falo, and not being yet replaced by the long prairie 
grass, which is gradually working its way to the 
mountains. Skirted the cross timbers for about two 
miles. This timber is so called, from the fact that it 
runs from Red River across to the Arkansas, Arms 
of it extending north of the Arkansas. It consists 
of dwarfish looking scrub oaks, whose branches ex- 
tending down and interlacing render it almost im- 
penetrable. Camped on the South side of Little 
River, on a tributary of that stream. 

68th day 51st day's march. July 20th Thursday. 
Started between 6 and 7, retracing our steps for 
about 4 miles — Capt. Boone having made an exam- 
ination of the country yesterday evening, after we 
encamped, thinking that the divide of the Canadian 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 231 

and Little River ran to the right of us: — in which 
opinion he was correct. Travelling extremely tedi- 
ous to the mules in consequence of the numerous 
little creeks we had to cross in order to reach the 
divide of the main stream its head of Little River 
being one. This stream, running about E. S. E. is 
difficult to cross with wagons : its banks being steep 
and composed of red mud, and the growth of timber 
and under brush being very heavy, occupying some 
time in getting a road to enable the wagons to work 
through. The head waters of Little River rise with- 
in half a mile of the Canadian, thus jamming the 
divide close on to the banks of the latter river, and 
rendering it extremely difficult to distinguish it, and 
the tributaries of Little River looking as if they ran 
into the Canadian until observed within a very short 
distance of their banks and then they disappear 
through a ravine which a traveller would never sup- 
pose to exist 'till close on them. — Distance in a E. 
S. E. Course, passed over 15 miles — our days march 
having been 18 or 19 miles. Camped on a Creek 
emptying into the Canadian. Feel some anxiety 
with regard to our distance from Choteau's trading 
house, the men having only enough dried buffalo 
meat for supper, and breakfast tomorrow morning, 
and Choteau's old place is represented as being 100 
miles from Edward's where we first expect to pro- 
cure provisions (mouth of Little River). 

69tli day. 52nd day's march. Jidy 21st Friday. 
Started about six o 'clock and travelling a few miles 
S. E. a hill was seen about 8 miles off, supposed by 



232 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Capt Boone to be the ground called Mason's Fort, 
where Col. Mason formerly held a council with the 
Comanches and expected an attack. This proved to 
be the hill and 4 miles from the ruins of Choteau's 
old trading house, at which we arrived after travel- 
ling six miles. Resting there an hour, we resumed 
our march on the road made by the traders from this 
point through the cross timbers, hoping to reach a 
house which the Shawnees had informed us to be on 
the road ten miles from Choteau's, where we could 
get corn and beef, which are very much needed. This 
road we found in a horrible state, the soil consisting 
of red clay, which washes very badly, producing 
deep ravines where the wagon wheels had made their 
tracks. This road, as bad as it was, proved very 
advantageous to us, facilitating our movements ; our 
men being unable to exert themselves with that ac- 
tivity and energy necessary to cut a road through 
timber where a pack mule would be unable to pass. 
Camped 12 miles from site of Choteau's old trading 
house. No provisions. Camped on a small prairie 
on the edge of a creek running into Little River. 
Distance 18 miles S. E. 

70th day. 53d day's march. July 22nd Saturday. 
Made a late start this morning about 10 o'clock in 
consequence of our mules having strayed off. It be- 
ing necessary in consequence of the indifferent 
grasing and their reduced condition to give them a 
greater range than the length of their Lariettes. 
Marched 17 miles E. S. E. roads for the first six 
miles almost impassable, but after that distance, im- 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 233 

proving, the soil becoming more sandy, and before 
the day's march was concluded, changing from the 
red, to a white sandy soil. Country more diversi- 
fied in its character than yesterday — little prairie 
more frequently presenting themselves and becom- 
ing somewhat more extensive. Little or no change 
in vegetation. Timber the same as yesterday. 
Camped on a creek called White Rock Creek, from 
the banks being composed of white sandstone Rock, 
on which numerous names have been cut. Indians, 
Whites &c. No house yet. Lost a horse here — 
strayed off. 

71st day. 54th day's march. July 23d Sunday. 
Started at sunrise in hopes of reaching some Indian 
settlement where we can get corn and beef. The 
Country begins to change. The timber changing, 
the scrub oaks occasionally intermixed with the cot- 
ton wood. Elm, and Ash. The prairies also becom- 
ing more extensive, though still presenting few in- 
ducements to Agriculturalists, there being a great 
scarcity of water and no building or rail timber — 
When we had travelled about 8 miles E. from Camp 
we were met by a party of Creek Indians, who in- 
formed us they lived 4 miles south of our road and 
could sui3ply all our wants. The command accord- 
ingly turned off and encamped on a beautiful oak 
grove near a spring shown to us by the Indians. 
Measures were immediately taken to supply our 
wants, and the men were soon engaged in preparing 
their meals with an eagerness which plainly showed 
their gratification in once more having the means of 



234 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

gratifying their appetites. — More merriment and 
hilarity in Camp to day than I have witnessed for 
some time past, our Creek friends lived on the Ca- 
nadian; had good farms, an abundance of stock of 
every description, and seemed to understand the art 
of living and surrounding themselves with com- 
forts. — 

72nd day. July 24t1i Monday. Remained in 
Camp to day to rest our jaded cattle and to dry our 
beef. Indians visited us throughout the course of 
the day, bringing in marketing of various kinds — 
Seemed to regard our presence as a kindly visitation 
of providence in supplying them the means of dis- 
posing of some of their produce and the means of 
getting a little money. 

73d day. 55th day's march. July 25th Tuesday. 
Resumed our march about >^ past 6 — marching over 
a prairie country E. N. E. for about 8 miles 'till we 
reached the Timber skirting Little River. Then we 
passed over oak ridges for 2 miles 'till we reached 
the bottom of Little River. We crossed the river 
about 1 o'clock and should have gone on some miles 
further but for an accident resulting in the death of 
a man of ''H" Company which detained us 'till too 
late to resume the march. While pulling the wagons 
up the north bank of the river a Rifle leaning up 
against a tree was knocked down and accidentally 
discharged, by a man pulling in rear of Seiter, the 
Contents of the rifle passing into the back of the 
latter and passing up killed him in 15 minutes. He 
was buried about 200 yards from the crossing of the 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 235 

river, on the north side of the trace. The command 
was moved off a short distance on the edge of a small 
prairie running up to the river and Camped. Tim- 
ber in the bottom of Little River very large, and 
various Bois d'arc among the rest. 

74th day. 56th day's march July 26th Wednes- 
day. Started at 7 o'clock travelling 16 miles E. N. 
E. The roads in consequence of rains which fell 
yesterday and during the night, heavy : mules labour- 
ing over them with difficulty. Country generally 
prairie, soil good, rather rocky. Sand rocks fre- 
quently showing themselves above the surface of the 
ground. 

75th day. 57th day's march. July 27th Thurs- 
day. Started at 6. Marched 16 miles N. E. Camped 
on a creek running east into the Canadian with a 
house on its South bank, the first near which we 
have camped. About 4 miles from this morning's 
Camp we struck the road leading from old Fort 
Holmes or Edward's trading house to Fort Gibson, 
about four miles from the Canadian where Fort 
Holmes is located. Country passed over high rolling 
prairie intersected by numerous creeks thickly tim- 
bered, one of which is memorable to troops stationed 
at Fort Gibson, from the fact that a Sick Camp was 
established there and many soldiers were buried. A 
large tree at the head of one of the graves has a 
finger pointing to the grave and written under it 
''Soldiers grave" We sent a soldier to Edward's 
when we got into the road and on his return news 
was received from Lieut Anderson who had in conse- 



236 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

quence of hugging the divide on the Canadian too 
closely, lost himself and company amongst the hills 
of the Blue Eiver and getting out of provisions left 
his wagon and five men with Lieut Johnston and 
proceeded in search of provisions. Fort Holmes be- 
ing the first place where he found them — 45 miles 
from his wagon. 

76th day. 58th clay's march. July 28. Friday. 
Marched to day 16 miles, Course E. N. E. having 
made an early start. — Country very broken and 
rough, gravelly hills which hurt our unshod horses 
very much. Creeks quite numerous, heavily tim- 
bered — and ridges of the north fork of the Cana- 
dian running down close to the road covered with 
timber. Camped on a creek emptying into the Cana- 
dian 4 or 5 miles from Apothleohole's town. 

77th day. 58th days march. July 29th Saturday. 
Marched 16 miles. Course N. E. Country, rough 
prairie 'till within 5 miles of the North Fork. Halt- 
ed at the North Fork about an hour, fed our horses 
and resuming our march crossed the river at the 
Falls, and proceeded 5 miles further. Camping on 
a prairie stream near the timber of the north Fork. 

78th day. 59th day's march. July 30th Sunday. 
Started at 6. Marched 20 miles. N. N. E. the 
weather being very favourable for travelling — a 
constant drizzling rain falling throughout the day 
and cooling the atmosphere. — Country passed over 
prairie, with exception of belts of timber along the 
various creeks intersecting our road. Saw the high 
hills around Gibson from an eminence on the road. 



CAPTAIN BOONE'S JOURNAL 237 

Camped on a creek 12 miles from Fort Gibson at the 
termination of a range of tabular ridges running 
from the Arkansas river. 

79th day. 60th clays march. July 31st Monday. 
Started at 5 o'clock this morning, marched N. N. E. 
The timber of the Arkansas soon presented itself to 
our view, together with the most elevated of the 
hills about Fort Gibson. On our left were a singular 
range of ridges, called by Capt. Boone the Devils' 
Card Table, consisting of three ridges very steep in 
their ascent flat on the top and terminated to the 
south by a conical hill which, in the distance looks 
like a tower. These hills are visible from prospect 
hill at Fort Gibson. Reached the Arkansas about 10 
oClock, and by one o'clock our command was formed 
on the parade ground at Fort Gibson. — 
To Nathan Boone 

Genl. Z Taylor Capt Capt Comdg 

Comd'g 2nd Mil'y Dep't Detachment Dragoons 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 



239 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 

CHAPTER I 

1 In the preparation of this chapter Miss Euth Gallaher's article 
on The Military-Indian Frontier, 1830-1835, in The Iowa Journal of 
History and Politics, July, 1917, has been of especial value. 

2 American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. IV, p. 643; Statis- 
tical Atlas of the United States, 1900, p. 25. 

3 American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. IV, p. 592. 

* American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. IV, p. 593. 

5 American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. IV, p. 727. 

8 This discussion is found in the American State Papers, Military 
Affairs, Vol. IV, pp. 284-292; it consists of reports by Secretary of 
War John H. Eaton, (Major General Alexander Macomb, Adjutant 
General R. Jones, and Major General E. P. Gaines. 

^ Report of Secretary of War Lewis Cass in the American State 
Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. IV, p. 709. 

8 Surgeon General Jos. Lovell's report in the American State Pa- 
pers, Military Affairs, Vol. IV, pp. 85, 86. 

9 Quoted from a letter by Lieutenant Joseph S. Grallagher in the 
American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. IV, pp. 291, 292. 

10 American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. IV, pp. 709, 718. 

11 From the report of Surgeon General Jos. Lovell, dated October 
20, 1831. 

12 From the comparative statement of C. Irvine, Commissary Gen- 
eral of Purchases, dated October 11, 1830. 

13 Report of Brevet Colonel George Bomford, dated November 30, 
1830. 

17 241 



242 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

14 American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol, IV, pp. 626, 
627, 629. 

15 Wisco7isin Historical Collections, Vol. V, p. 254. 

16 American State Papers, Military A fairs, Vol. IV, p. 281. 

17 There are two first-hand reports of this expedition : that of 
Major Bennet Riley, commander of the detachment, is found in the 
American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. IV, pp. 277-280; that 
of Lieutenant Philip St. George Cooke is found in his Scenes and 
Adventures in the Army, pp. 40-93. 

18 These episodes are described in the writer's Henry Dodge, Chap- 
ters IV, V. 

CHAPTER II 

19 Report of Secretary of War Lewis Cass, dated November 25, 
1832, and printed in the American State Papers, Military Affairs, 
Vol. V, pp. 18-25. 

20 United States Statutes at Large, Vol. IV, p. 652. 

21 American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. V, p. 280. 

22 Hildreth 's Dragoon Campaigns to the BocJcy Mountains, pp. 36, 
37. This volume of 288 pages was published in 1836 and consists of 
a series of letters by James Hildreth, the author. Besides the history 
of several marches of this regiment there are interesting sketches of 
Indian life and of scenery. 

23 Hildreth 's Dragoon Campaigns to the EocTcy Mountains, pp. 
15, 30. 

"Captain E. V. Sumner's corps of U. S. Dragoons, or rangers 
destined for the Indian service, arrived at Buffalo, on the 3d inst. 
[August 1833] and left next day for their place of destination. The 
Buffalo Journal says, they were the finest looking raw recruits we ever 
saw; all New Yorkers, selected by capt. S. himself from the northern 
and western counties of the state, within the age of 25 years, and as 
nearly as possible 5 feet 8 inches in height. All possessing a good 
English education and of strictly correct habits." — Niles' Register, 
Vol. XLIV, p. 422. 

24 Cooke's Scenes and Adventures in the Army, pp. 197-204. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 243 

25 The facts and the descriptive features of these river journeys 
are condensed from Charles Joseph Latrobe's The Barribler in North 
America, Vol. II, pp. 315-327. The author of this work, published in 
1835, was an Englishman. In 1833 he visited Chicago and crossed 
Illinois to St. Louis. From there he went overland to Peoria, Galena, 
and Prairie du Chien. The Mississippi was ascended to St. Anthony, 
from which point he floated down the river to New Orleans. Latrobe 
was a keen observer and an interesting narrator. 

26 Charles Fenno Hoffman who visited this post three months later 
(February, 1834) found there a garrison of five companies commanded 
by Colonel Zachary Taylor and quartered in handsome barracks built 
by the soldiers themselves. Shooting and hunting of all kinds fur- 
nished amusement for the troops as well as for the population of 
voyageurs and hunters, half Indian and half French. Grouse, snipe, 
and ducks abounded. "Elk, bear, and wolves are the game of those 
who are more ambitious in their sport, and choose to go farther to 
seek it. The meat of the first I have not yet tasted, but I made a 
capital dinner yesternoon from the sirloin of the second at the com- 
mandant's quarters. Bruin was served up in handsome style, and 
some old wine from Colonel T. 's hospitable cellar relished in this 
latitude."— Hoffman's A Winter in the West, Vol. II, pp. 9-24. 

27 "The position of this little Fort is remarkable, occupying the 
rocky extremity of an island three miles long, and of half that width. 
It forms a square, with blockhouses at the angles, two of which, im- 
pending over the limestone precipice, are picturesque objects. On the 
western bank of the Mississippi, extending to the southward, the Sauks 
and Foxes have their Eeservation. ' ' — Latrobe 's The Rambler in 
North America, Vol. II, p. 325. 

28 Flagg's The Far West, Vol. I, pp. 149, 150. See also Thwaites's 
Early Western Travels, Vol. XXI, p. 122; and Ferrall's A Bamble of 
Six Thousand Miles Through the United States of America, pp. 131, 
132. 

29 Flagg 's The Far West, Vol. I, p. 149. An excellent description 
of the barracks and of the dragoons as they appeared in March, 1834, 
is given in Hoffman's A Winter in the West, Vol. II, pp. 86-97. 

30 American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. V, p. 39; the 
quotation in the text is from Flagg's The Far West, Vol. I, p. 150. 



244 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 



37, 38 



31 Hildreth 's Dragoon Campaigns to the Eochy Mountains, pp. 
38. 

32 Hildreth 's Dragoon Campaigns to the BocJcy Mountains, pp. 
45-47. 

33 Dodge 's Military Order Bool: This is a manuscript document 
in Colonel Dodge's own handwriting, containing his military orders 
and correspondence from August, 1832, to March, 1836. The orders 
and letters issued from widely separated points in the Mississippi 
Valley, are all written in ink and are fairly legible, despite the nearly 
eighty years that have passed since their composition. The document 
is in the possession of the Historical Department at Des Moines, Iowa, 
and all references to it in this volume are to the original and un- 
published source. 

This letter in Dodge's Military Order Boole is to Col. E. Jones, 
Adjutant General, dated Jefferson Barracks, August 28, 1833. 

34 Hildreth 's Dragoon Campaigns to the Body Mountains, pp. 44, 
45, 49, 50. 

ssLratrobe's The Eamhler in North America, Vol. II, pp. 318, 319. 

36 Hildreth 's Dragoon Campaigns to the EocTcy Mountains, pp. 
42, 43. 

37 Hildreth 's Dragoon Campaigns to the EocJcy Mountains, pp. 



51, 52. 



CHAPTER III 



38 Hildreth 's Dragoon Campaigns to the EocJcy Mountains, pp. 
59, 60. 

"In what originated this march? "Was any important public end 
to be attained? Was it to repel an invading foe? Was it to make a 
sudden and important attack upon a foreign enemy? Did the good 
of the service in any way call for it? To these questions there is but 
one answer — No ! There has been assigned, as the only and great 
motive, that the corps having teen raised for the defense of the fron- 
tier, would he disbanded if it remained inactive so far in the interior 
as Jefferson Barracks." — Cooke's Scenes and Adventures in the 
Army, p. 220. 

' ' Before they were all clothed, — and some without instruction, — 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 245 

wretchedly armed, they were put upon horses, and started on a five- 
hundred-mile march in snow. Arrived in the last days of December, 
they found no quarters, stables, or forage; this last was not attain- 
able. The mercury sank to — 10°." — Quoted from Cooke's Our Cav- 
alry in the United Service, July, 1879, Vol. I, pp. 329-346. 

39 Hildreth 's Dragoon Campaigns to the Body Mountains, pp. 62, 
63. Incidents and descriptions of the march are taken largely from 
this volume. 

40 This post, which was erected in 1824, was located on the left 
bank of the Neosho Eiver near its junction with the Arkansas Kiver 
in what is now Muskogee County, Oklahoma. In November, 1834, its 
garrison consisted of nine companies of about four hundred men. 
The fort was abandoned in 1857. — American State Papers, Military 
A fairs, Vol. V, p. 370; Thwaites's Early Western Travels, Vol. XX, 
p. 105. 

41 Henry Dodge's letter to Adjutant General E. Jones, dated 
February 2, 1833, in Dodge's Military Order Book. See also 
Hildreth 's Dragoon Campaigns to the BocJcy Mountains, pp. 76, 77, 
83, 84. 

42 Dodge to Adjutant General E. Jones, February 15, 1834, in 
Dodge's Military Order Boole. 

43 Dodge to Adjutant General E. Jones, February 2, 1834, in 
Dodge's Military Order Boole. 

44 The descriptive material concerning the life and the amusements 
of the dragoons at Camp Jackson during the winter of 1833-1834 is 
found in Hildreth 's Dragoon Campaigns to the Boclcy Mountains, pp. 
85-88. 

45 Letter from Camp Jackson, dated April 18, 1834, to George W. 
Jones, found in the Historical Department at Des Moines, Iowa. 

46 Hildreth 's Dragoon Campaigns to the Boclcy Mountains, p. 96. 

47 Dodge to Adjutant General E. Jones, March 31, 1834, in 
Dodge's Military Order Boole; Hildreth 's Dragoon Campaigns to the 
Boclcy Mountains, pp. 98-101. 

48 Dodge to Adjutant General E. Jones, February 15, 1834, in 
Dodge's Military Order Boole. 



246 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

49 Hildreth 's Dragoon Campaigns to the EocTcy Mountains, pp. 
104-106. 

50 Hildreth 's Dragoon Campaigns to the Boclcy Mountains, p. 106 ; 
letter by Colonel Dodge from Camp Jackson to General Henry 
Leavenworth, dated May 9, 1834, and found in Dodge's Military 
Order Boole; Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, Vol. I, pp. 30, 31. 

51 This journal, covering the time between May 11 and June 2, 
1834, was kept by a dragoon of Company I. The textual account of 
this march is based wholly upon this journal, which has been edited 
by the author and may be found in The Iowa Journal of History and 
Politics, Vol. VII, pp. 335-341. 

52 The entry for May 23rd reads: "After a march of 27 miles 
made Camp Clyman. The first part of this days march was over a 
barren soil with good water, in the afternoon the land was good with 
some of the best springs I ever saw. Our men & horses are improving 
& our situation is as pleasant as can be expected while on a march. 
Our officers are J. B. Brown[e], Capt. A. G. Edwards Lieut. L. A. 
Styles 1 B. F. Price 2 J. C. Parrott 3 L. A. Thompson 4 sergents 
Bartlett — Terrill Easman & rice Corporals ' '. 

53 Hildreth 's Dragoon Campaigns to the Bocty Mountains, pp. 
119-121. 

54Catlin's North American Indians, Vol. II, pp. 454-457 (Haz- 
ard's Edition of 1857). Mr. Catlin was skeptical as to the ultimate 
success of this prospective tour. In the first place, the difficulty of 
organizing and equipping forced the regiment to start too late by two 
months. And secondly, the presence of such a large force would 
cause the Indians with their families to flee to their hiding-places 
among barren wastes where the troops could not follow. From those 
points the Indians might annoy the dragoons by striking at their 
hunting parties and cutting off their supplies. 

CHAPTEE IV 

55 This chapter was constructed from the following sources : 
(a). American State Papers, Military A fairs, Vol. V, pp. 373- 
382. This is the journal kept by Lieutenant T. B. Wheelock during 
the entire march. Although it is sketchy in form it presents a 
fascinating narrative as well as an official and accurate account. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 247 

(b). Catlin's North American Indians, Vol. II, pp. 452-528, 
Hazard's edition of 1857. The same material is also found in tlie 
Smithsonian Report for 1885, Part II. Mr. Catlin was at this time 
thirty-seven years of age, and enjoyed the confidence of Colonel 
Dodge of whom he painted a portrait. Dodge declared of Catlin's 
portraits of Indians that ' ' The lilenesses are good, very easily to 
be recognized, and the costumes faithfully represented." Vivid de- 
scriptions of the Indians and narratives of buffalo hunts, marches, 
scenery, and Indian councils from a keen observer, a forceful writer, 
and an artist give both interest and value to this source. 

(c). Dodge's Military Order BooTc. 

(d). Hildreth's Dragoon Campaigns to the BocTcy Mountains. 

(e). Manuscript letters from Henry Dodge in the Historical De- 
partment at Des Moines. 

(f). A Journal of Marches ty the First United States Dragoons, 
1834-1835. This document describes four marches by the First United 
States Dragoons which extended over the area of five States of the 
Mississippi Valley. The author of the Journal was a member of 
Company I commanded by Captain Jesse B. Browne. The Journal is 
edited by Louis Pelzer and printed in The Iowa Journal of History 
and Politics, Vol. VII, pp. 331-378. 

56 Eeport of Secretary of War Lewis Cass in American State Pa- 
pers, Military Affairs, Vol. V, pp. 169-172. 

57 American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. V, p. 373. 

58 Smithsonian Beport, 1885, Part II, p. 479. '^ 

59 A Journal of Marches hy the First United States Dragoons in 
The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, Vol. VII, p. 344. 

60 American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. V, p. 376. 

61 "Every morning early as the day dawned hundred [s] of 
Squaws might be seen ladened with corn Pumpions & water-mellons & 
Buffalo meat strolling through our camp more anxious to trade than 
our Yankee Pedlers — whatever ornaments or decorations we could 
offer whether Paints, Buttons, Eibbands or any thing else to make a 
show they quickly bartered. Horses of the finest form & appearance 
were willingly exchanged for a single blanket". — A Journal of 
Marches hy the First United States Dragoons in The Iowa Journal of 
History and Politics, Vol. VII, p. 358. 



248 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

62 Catlin 's North American Indians, Vol. II, p. 505. 

' ' The little boy of whom I have spoken, ' ' wrote Catlin, ' ' was 
brought in, the whole distance to Fort Gibson, in the arms of the 
dragoons, who took turns in carrying him; and after the command 
arrived there, he was transmitted to the Red River, by an officer, who 
had the enviable satisfaction of delivering him into the arms of his 
disconsolate and half-distracted mother." 

63 A Journal of Marches hy the First United States Dragoons in 
The Iowa Journal of Eistory and Politics, Vol. VII, pp. 358, 359. 

64 "Marched at half -past eight o'clock", writes Lieutenant Wheel- 
ock on July 31, 1834. "Men in fine spirits; abundance of buffalo 
meat; course northeast; distance 10 miles; encamped on a branch of 
the Canadian; three buffaloes killed this morning; no news yet from 
express; anxiously looked for; face of country rolling prairie; fre- 
quent deep gullies; one of the Kiowas killed three buffaloes with 
three arrows." 

65 Catlin 's North American Indians, Vol. II, p. 515. 

66 A Journal of Marches ty the First United States Dragoons in 
The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, Vol. VII, p. 359. 

67 American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. V, p. 382. 

68 Dodge 's Military Order Boole, p. 90. 

69 Letter from Colonel Dodge, dated October 1, 1834, and found in 
the Historical Department at Des Moines. 

70 A report of this expedition was sent to the Adjutant General, 
and a copy thereof, dated August 18, 1834, is found in Dodge's Mili- 
tary Order Booh, pp. 85-89. 

71 ' ' Colonel Dodge, who led the expedition, ' ' said Lewis Cass, 
"and his whole command appear to have performed their duties in 
the most satisfactory manner, and they encountered with firmness the 
privations incident to the harassing service upon which they were 
ordered." — American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. V, p. 358. 

72 Catlin 's North American Indians, Vol. II, p. 525. 

CHAPTER V 

73 See the article entitled Fort Des Moines (No. 1), Iowa pre- 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 249 

pared by the War Department and published in the A7inals of Iowa 
(Third Series), Vol. Ill, pp. 351-363. In the history of Iowa there 
have been three posts which have borne the name ' ' Fort Des Moines ' '. 
To keep them distinct they are referred to as Fort Des Moines (No. 
1), Fort Des Moines (No. 2), and Fort Des Moines (No. 3). For 
brief historical accounts of these three posts see Van der Zee's Forts 
in the Iowa Country in The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, 
Vol. XII, pp. 178-182, 192-197, 202-204. 

' ' Three companies under Lieut. Col. Kearny marched from this 
place for the Demoin on the Mississippi on the 3d of this Instant 
where they are to be Wintered in the Sac Country". — Letter from 
Colonel Dodge to Major General Gaines dated Fort Gibson, Septem- 
ber 7, 1834, and found in Dodge's Military Order Book. 

74 This journal is printed in The Iowa Journal of History and 
Politics, Vol. VII, pp. 361-364. 

"^5 American State Papers, Public Lands, Vol. Ill, p. 345; Annals 
of Iowa (First Series), Vol. V, p. 892, Vol. VI, p. 180, Vol. VII, pp. 
230, 231. 

^^ Annals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. Ill, p. 353. 

77 Whitcomb 's Peminiscences of Gen. James C. Parrott in the 
Annals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. Ill, pp. 370, 371. 

78 This story is related in Hawkins Taylor 's General Jesse B. 
Brownie] in the Annals of Iowa (First Series), Vol. X, pp. 196-206. 

79 Quoted from Lea 's Early Explorations in Iowa in the Iowa 
Historical Record, Vol. VI, No. 4, p. 543. 

so Annals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. Ill, pp. 353, 354. 

81 Annals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. Ill, p. 355. 
Lieutenant Lea's story of his journey to Fort Gibson and his 

return to Fort Des Moines may be found in the Iowa Historical Bec- 
ord, Vol. VI, No. 4, pp. 543-545. 

82 These instructions are printed in the Annals of Iowa (Third 
Series), Vol. Ill, p. 355. 

83 This journal is edited and published in The Iowa Journal of 
History and Politics, Vol. VII, pp. 364-378. 



250 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

84 These descriptions of scenery are based upon the following 
sources: Lea's Notes on Wisconsin Territory; Lea's Early Explora- 
tions in Iowa in the Iowa Historical Becord, Vol. VI, pp. 535-553; 
the dragoon journa^l in The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, 
Vol. VII, pp. 364-378; and personal knowledge and observations. 

85 The detailed account in the text is based almost wholly upon 
this journal noted in footnote 83. 

86 Iowa Historical Becord, Vol. VI, p. 549. Des Moines, the cap- 
ital of Iowa, by the census of 1910 had a population of 86,368. 

87 The report of Colonel Kearny describing this site is printed in 
the Annals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. Ill, pp. 356, 357. 

88 Iowa Historical Becord, Vol. VI, p. 550. 

so Annals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. Ill, p. 370; Annals of 
loiva (First Series), Vol. X, pp. 196-206. 

80 Lea's Notes on Wisconsin Territory, pp. 22, 23, 35. 

* ' The rapids are about fourteen miles long, and at the top of them 
is a military post or cantonment, called Fort des Moines. This site 
appears to me to have been chosen with singularly bad judgment; it 
is low, unhealthy, and quite unimportant in a military point of view; 
moreover, if it had been placed at the lower, instead of the upper end 
of the rapids, an immense and useless expense would have been 
spared to the government, inasmuch as the freightage of every 
article conveyed thither is now doubled. The freight on board the 
steamer, from which I made these observations, was twenty-five cents 
per hundred weight from St. Louis to Keokuk, being one hundred and 
seventy miles, and from St. Louis to the fort, being only fourteen 
miles farther, it was fifty cents." — Murray's Travels in North 
America, Vol. II, p. 98. 

91 Quoted from Murray's Travels in North America, Vol. II, pp. 
98, 99. 

02 A7inals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. Ill, pp. 370-373. 

OS Annals of loioa (Third Series), Vol. Ill, pp. 357-359. 

94Flagg's The Far West, Vol. I, p. 108. 

osFlagg's The Far West, Vol. I, pp. 109, 110. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 251 

^G Annals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. Ill, pp. 358, 375. 

s'' A more detailed account of the evacuation of this post is the 
War Department's article on Fort Des Moines (No. 1), loiva in the 
Annals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. Ill, pp. 351-363. 

^» Annals of Iowa (First Series), Vol. X, p. 147. 
CHAPTER VI 

99 This chapter is based upon the material found in American 
State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. VI, pp. 130-146. This material 
consists of the following documents: — 

(a). The journal of the march of this detachment of the dra- 
goons as written by Lieutenant G. P. Kingsbury, the journalist of 
the expedition. 

(b). A map showing the route of the dragoons in this expedition. 

(c). Letter from Colonel Dodge to Roger Jones, Adjutant Gen- 
eral of the United States Army, dated October, 1835, from Fort 
Leavenworth. 

(d). Letter of Edmund P. Gaines (of the Western Department 
of the Army) to Roger Jones, Adjutant General of the United States 
Army, dated November 12, 1835. 

100 The present counties of Richardson, Nemaha, Johnson, and 
Otoe. 

101 ''The Otto village", describes Lieutenant Kingsbury, "is sit- 
uated on a high prairie ridge, about two miles from the river, and 
overlooks the surrounding country for many miles. In front lay the 
green level valley of the Platte. . . . The village was very neat 
in its appearance. The lodges were built of wood, thatched with 
prairie grass, and covered with dirt. They were of a circular form, 
with a pointed roof about ten or twelve feet high to the break of the 
roof, and about fifteen or twenty feet high in the centre. They 
build their fires in the middle of the lodge, leaving an opening in the 
roof for the smoke to escape." 

102 The route of this march would seem to correspond approx- 
imately with the present line of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad 
between the cities of Denver and Pueblo in the State of Colorado. 

103 <'The command at this stage of the march", writes Lieuten- 



252 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

ant Kingsbury on August 12th, "was in a most perfect state of 
health — not a man upon the sick report ; the horses in fine order, 
nearly as good as when they left Fort Leavenworth. The Colonel had 
seen all the Indians he expected to see, and had established friendly 
relations with them all; had marched one thousand miles over a beau- 
tiful and interesting country, and we started for home with that 
joyous and self-satisfied feeling which resulted from a consciousness 
of having accomplished the full object of the expedition." 

104 "The weather being wet and foggy," runs the journal of 
August 20th, "we remained encamped; a party of men were sent out 
hunting, who killed two buffalo bulls; no buffalo cows were seen." 

105 This was a dragoon of Company A who died on August 11, 
1835. Colonel Dodge directed him to be buried on a high prairie 
ridge and a stone to be placed at the head of the grave upon which 
were to be engraved his name and regiment. 

CHAPTEE VII 

106 Abel's The History of Events Resulting in Indian Consolida- 
tion in the Annual Report of the American Historical Association, 
1906, Vol. I, pp. 342, 343; Paxson's The Last American Frontier, pp. 
21-23. 

107 American State Papers, Military Afairs, Vol. VII, pp. 785, 786. 

108 American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. VII, maps oppo- 
site page 780. 

109 American State Papers, Military Affairs, Vol. VII, p. 598. 

110 This report by Secretary of War J. E. Poinsett is accompanied 
by documents from the engineer department, the quartermaster gen- 
eral, and the commissioner of Indian affairs, and may be found in 
Senate Documents, 2nd Session, 25th Congress, Vol. I, Doc. 65. 

111 Letter dated Port Leavenworth, June 20, 1837, and printed in 
the American State Papers, Military Afairs, Vol. VII, pp. 960, 961. 

112 Executive Documents, 3rd Session, 25th Congress, Vol. I, Doc. 
2, table D, p. 120. 

113 Executive Documents, 3rd Session, 25th Congress, Vol. I, Doc. 
2, pp. 97, 98. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 253 

114 Van der Zee's Episodes in the Early History of the Western 
Iowa Country in The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, Vol. XI, 
pp. 345, 346; Chittenden and Richardson's Father Be Smet's Life 
and Travels among the North American Indians, Vol. I, pp. 158, 168. 

115 Eeport of Major General Alexander Macomb to the Secretary 
of "War, dated November 29, 1838, and printed in Executive Docu- 
ments, 3rd Session, 25th Congress, Vol. I, Doc. 2, pp. 114-119. 

116 Eeport of Acting Quartermaster General Henry Stanton in 
Executive Documents, 3rd Session, 25th Congress, Vol. I, Doc. 2, p. 
123. 

117 United States Statutes at Large, Vol. V, p. 359. 

118 Army and Navy Chronicle, Vol. IX, No. 1, p. 10, July 4, 1839. 

119 Report of Quartermaster General Thomas S. Jesup dated No- 
vember 29, 1839, and printed in Executive Documents, 1st Session, 
26th Congress, Vol. I, Doc. 2, pp. 112-115. 

120 Executive Documents, 1st Session, 26th Congress, Vol. I, Doc. 
2, pp. 56, 72, 73, 113, 114. 

121 Executive Documents, 1st Session, 26th Congress, Vol. I, Doc. 
2, p. 56; Chittenden and Richardson's Father De Smet's Life and 
Travels among the North American Indians, Vol. I, p. 175. 

122 This account is based upon the report of a member of this 
expedition as printed in the Army and Navy Chronicle, Vol. IX, No. 
18, pp. 285, 286, October 31, 1839. 

123 Report of Indian Agent Jos. V. Hamilton, dated October 18, 
1839, and of Moses Merrill (government teacher), dated September 
12, 1839, printed in Executive Documents, 1st Session, 26th Congress, 
Vol. I, Doc. 2, pp. 503, 504, 522 ; see also the Indian census returns in 
Executive Documents, 2nd Session, 26th Congress, Vol. I, Doc. 2, p. 
319. 

i2i Statistical Atlas (Twelfth Census of the United States, 1900), 
Plate No. 7. 

125 Executive Documents, 2nd Session, 26th Congress, Vol. I, Doe. 
2, pp. 46, 47. 

126 From an account signed by "Forester" and printed in the 
Army and Navy Chronicle, Vol. XI, No. 16, p. 249, October 15, 1840. 



254 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

■i-27Niles' Eegister, Vol. VII (or Vol. LVII — Fifth series), p. 
416, February 22, 1840. These two sites were in the present county 
of Sequoyah in the State of Oklahoma. 

128 Army and Navy Chronicle, Vol. XI, No. 16, p. 249, October 15, 
1840. 

129 United States Statutes at Large, Vol. V, p. 404. 

130 Army and Navy Chronicle, Vol. IX, No. 5, p. 80, August 1, 
1839. 

131 Army and Navy Chronicle, Vol. X, No. 16, April 16, 1840. 

132 Executive Documents, 2nd Session, 26th Congress, Vol. I, Doc. 
2, pp. 317, 321. 

CHAPTER VIII 

133 In the preparation of this chapter Van der Zee 's Forts in the 
Iowa Country in The loiva Journal of History and Politics, Vol. XII, 
pp. 163-204, has been found of special help and value. 

i34Kappler's Indian Affairs, Laws and Treaties, Vol. II, pp. 305- 
310, 345-348, 498-500. See also Annals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. 
rV, pp. 448, 449. 

135 J[nnaZs of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. IV, pp. 449, 451; and 
Senate Documents, 3rd Session, 27th Congress, Vol. I, Doc. 1, p. 231. 
The site of the post was on the present location of the village of 
Fort Atkinson in Winneshiek County, Iowa. It was abandoned in 
1849. 

136 Eeports of Governor John Chambers and Sub-Agent David 
Lowry for the year 1842 in Senate Documents, 3rd Session, 27th Con- 
gress, Vol. I, Doc. 1, pp. 417, 423. 

1ST Annals of lotva (First Series), Vol. Ill, pp. 411, 414, 535. 

T-ssA7mals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. TV, pp. 291, 293, 451. 
The Sac and Fox Agency was located on the left bank of the Des 
Moines River in the present county of Wapello, Iowa. 

139 Report of Agent John Beach, dated September 1, 1842, and 
printed in Senate Documents, 3rd Session, 27th Congress, Vol. I, Doc. 
1, pp. 424-427. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 255 

lioNiles' Register, Vol. LXI, p. 101, October 16, 1841; Annals of 
Iowa (First Series), Vol. VIII, p. 103. 

141 A detailed account of this treaty may be found in Parish's 
John Chambers, Chapter XIV. A picturesque account is also given 
in the Iowa Territorial Gazette and Advertiser (Burlington), Vol. VI, 
No. 14, October 15, 1842. This account is reprinted in The Iowa 
Journal of History and Politics, Vol. X, pp. 261-265. 

1*2 This description of life at the agency is gleaned from the 
Annals of Iowa (First Series), Vol. XII, pp. 94-97; and the Annals 
of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. IV, pp. 291, 292. 

143 Senate Documents, 3rd Session, 27th Congress, Vol. I, Doe. 1, 
p. 199, Table C. 

^ii Annals of Iowa (Third Series), Vol. Ill, p. 471. A map in 
Vol. XI of Explorations and Surveys for a Eailroad Route to the 
Pacific Ocean places "Old Ft. Croghan" some distance above the 
present Council Bluffs and a little below the mouth of the Boyer 
Eiver. The encampment was abandoned in September, 1843. 

145 Auduhon and Ms Journals, edited by his daughter Maria E. 
Audubon and Elliott Coues, Vol. I, pp. 477-482. 

146 Auduhon and his Journals, Vol. I, pp. 478-482. 

147 A detailed account of how the ' ' Omega 's ' ' crew prevented the 
liquor from being discovered by the dragoon officers is related in 
Chittenden's The History of the American Fur Trade of the Far 
West, Vol. II, pp. 679-683. 

148 Most of the details concerning this fort are drawn from the 
article entitled Fort Bes Moines, No. 2, in the Annals of Iowa (Third 
Series), Vol. IV, pp. 161-178. 

149 From material reprinted from the Keosauqua Times in the 
Davenport Gazette, Vol. V, No, 12, November 13, 1845. 

150 Eeport of Agent John Beach dated September 1, 1846, and 
printed in Executive Documents, 2nd Session, 29th Congress, Vol. I, 
Doc. 4, pp. 296-300. 

CHAPTEE IX 

151 The account of Captain Boone's exploration is based upon his 



256 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

Journal which gives a daily and detailed story of the inarch. The 
text of this Journal with an introduction and accompanying docu- 
ments is printed in the appendix to this volume. 

These documents are all in the office of the Adjutant General at 
Washington, D. C, photostat prints, secured by The State Historical 
Society of Iowa, being used in the preparation of the text. 

i«2 Josiah Gregg, in the preparation of his Commerce of the 
Prairies, the classic account of the Santa Fe trade, had access to 
Captain Boone's Journal. Quotations from it describing the "Eock 
Salt" may be found in Vol. II, pp. 187-189, of Gregg's work. 

153 Captain Boone's record for July 4, 1843, reads: "Marched 4 
miles E. S. E. and encamped on a pretty grove of Elm, hackberry, 
. . . . with good grass and water — and buffalo in sight, con- 
cluded to spend the 4th and rest the teams which are nearly worn 
out. The country sandy, with a few sand hills. Spent the Fourth in 
roasting fine Buffalo meat. — Cured some. ' ' 

154 This account is based upon Cooke 's Scenes and Adventures in 
the Army, pp. 236-282. 

155 Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, Vol. I, pp. 30, 31. 

156 Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, Vol. I, pp. 44-49. 

157 This was located a little north of the present town of Diamond 
Spring in Morris County, Kansas. 

158 This point was about twenty miles above the present Dodge 
City in Morris County, Kansas, and was about midway between Inde- 
pendence and Santa Fe. 

CHAPTER X 

159 The source material for this chapter is found in Executive 
Documents, 1st Session, 29th Congress, Vol. VI, Doc. 168. The mate- 
rial consists of the following documents: a letter of transmittal from 
the Adjutant General to the Secretary of War, Captain Allen's report 
to Colonel Kearny describing in general the route, and Captain Allen 's 
Journal containing the detailed narrative of the expedition. 

These documents have been edited with an introduction and crit- 
ical notes by Jacob Van der Zee and published in The Iowa Journal 
of History and Politics, Vol. XI, pp. 68-108. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 257 

i«o Medium and Swan lakes are in Emmet County, Iowa; while 
Turtle Lake is on the boundary between Iowa and Minnesota. 

161 See Nicollet's report printed in Executive Documents, 2nd Ses- 
sion, 28th Congress, Vol. II, Doc. 52. The reference is to page 13. 

102 The route to the Eaceoon Eiver seems to have crossed the fol- 
lowing Iowa counties: Woodbury, Ida, Calhoun, and Jefferson. 

163 Government records contain brief mention only of the follow- 
ing additional operations of the dragoons in the year 1844: (1) an 
expedition of five companies commanded by Captain Wharton, (2) 
Captain Sumner 's march from Fort Atkinson to the region north of 
the Minnesota Eiver; (3) the tour of one company under Captain 
Boone from Fort Gibson to a point on the Eed Eiver; and (4) the 
march of one company from Arkansas Eiver to Fort Towson. — See 
Eeport of Major General Winfield Scott dated November 23, 1844, 
and printed in Executive Documents, 2nd Session, 28th Congress, Vol. 
I, Doc. 2, pp. 129-132. 

CHAPTEE XI 

164 Senate Documents, 1st Session, 29th Congress, Vol. I, Doc. 1, 
table D, et passim. 

165 This account is based on Captain Sumner's report which is 
printed in Senate Documents, Vol. I, Doc. 1, pp. 217-220. This 
material is edited with introduction and notes by Jacob Van der Zee 
in The Iowa Journal of History and Politics, Vol. XI, pp. 258-267. 

166 Located between Nicollet and Blue Earth counties in Minnesota. 

167 Senate Documents, 1st Session, 29th Congress, Vol. I, Doe. 1, 
pp. 563, 564. 

^ 168 This was a widening of the Minnesota River and borders on 
Lac qui Parle County in Minnesota. 

169 Between Big Stone County, Minnesota, and Eoberts County, 
South Dakota. 

170 Located between Eamsey and Benson counties in North Dakota. 

171 Eeport of Agent Amos J. Bruce, dated September 1, 1844, and 
printed in Executive Documents, 2nd Session, 28th Congress, Vol. I, 
Doe. 2, pp. 418, 419. 

18 



258 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

CHAPTER XII 

172 The narrative and description of this chapter are based upon 
the following sources: 

(a). Senate Documents, 1st Session, 29th Congress, Vol. I, Doc. 1, 
pp. 208-217. This contains General Winfield Scott's report, Colonel 
Kearny's report of the summer campaign of 1845, a brief abstract of 
journals of the expedition kept by Lieutenants Turner and Franklin, 
and a map furnished by the latter officer which gives a clear and 
detailed itinerary of the outward and return trails. 

(b). Cooke's Scenes and Adventures in the Army, pp. 282-432. 
This account by a participant is full of interesting incidents and de- 
tails. The scenic descriptions are animated and vivid, but sometimes 
stilted in style. 

(e). Thwaites's Early Western Travels, Vol. XXX. This con- 
tains a reprint of Joel Palmer's Journal of Travels over the EocTcy 
Mountains. Palmer was one of the leaders of an emigrant party 
which travelled over the Oregon Trail during the same months that 
the dragoons were on the march. His account is, therefore, a contem- 
porary one and is valuable for vivid descriptions of emigrant parties 
and scenes along the route. 

(d). Parkman's The Oregon Trail. Mr. Parkman travelled over 
the trail as far as Fort Laramie in 1846. His descriptions of emi- 
grants, Indians, scenery, hardships, and animal life make the work a 
valuable, near-contemporary source, as well as a charming, readable 
narrative. 

(e). Ein Ausflug nach den Felsen-Gebirgen im Jahre 18S9, trans- 
lated and edited by Frederick A. Wislizenus and published by the 
Missouri Historical Society. This is an autobiographical account by 
Dr. Adolph Wislizenus who travelled over the trail. 

(f). The report of Lieutenant Fremont's expedition over the 
trail in 1842. This account found in many editions is very valuable 
for its descriptions of life, scenery, and climate along the route. 

(g). mies' Register, Vol. LXIX, pp. 123, 124, and pp. 302, 303. 
These pages contain respectively a brief condensed account of 
Colonel Kearny's march by Captain Cooke and a reprint of the docu- 
ments mentioned in the first source above. 

(h) . A Topographical Map of the Boad from Missouri to Oregon, 
in seven sections. This map was prepared from the journals and field 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 259 

notes of Fremont and presents a detailed view of the Oregon Trail. 
Its meteorological observations, location of Indians, and the remarks 
upon the animal life and vegetation along the route make this map of 
the highest use and value in studying the trail. 

(i). Edwin Bryant's What I Saw in California. This author's 
descriptions of his journey over the trail in 1846 furnish additional 
view-points on the famous transcontinental road. 

(j). In the Life, Letters and Travels of Father Pierre-Jean Be 
Smet, Vol. I, edited by Chittenden and Eichardson, appears De Smet 's 
description of the trail as he saw it in 1841. 

(k). In Chittenden's The History of the American Fur Trade of 
the Far West, Vol. I, Chapter XXVI, the itinerary of the trail is 
given, with the distances between the various stations along the route, 

173 The South Pass was simply a high ridge between the ends of 
the Sweetwater and Wind Eiver Mountains and was located in the 
southern part of what is now Fremont County, Wyoming. The ascent 
to it is so gradual that it is not easy to determine just when the sum- 
mit is reached. It had nothing of the gorge-like character of such 
passes as St. Bernard or Simplon in Europe or the Allegheny passes 
in America. 

174 These statistics are given by Colonel Kearny in his report of 
the expedition to E. Jones, the Adjutant General of the United States 
Army. 

CHAPTEE XIII 

175 Eor this chapter the leading sources are again Cooke 's Scenes 
and Adventures in the Army; Niles' Begister, Vol. LXIX, pp. 123, 
124; and Senate Documents, 1st Session, 29th Congress, Vol. I, Doc. 1, 
pp. 208-217. 

176 Crow Creek is in Weld County in the present State of Colorado 
which the regiment entered on July 18, 1845. On the evening of July 
22nd the encampment was near the site of the present city of Denver. 

177 Descriptive features are taken largely from Thomas J. Farn- 
ham's Travels as reprinted in Thwaites's Early Western Travels, Vol. 
XXVIII. 

178 On this date the command entered Hamilton County, Kansas. 



260 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

CHAPTER XIV 

179 The following authorities are the basis for this chapter: 

(a). John T. Hughes's Doniphan's Expedition, Chapters I-V. 
The author was a private in Company C of the mounted volunteers 
from Clay County, Missouri. This is a detailed account of the march 
from day to day written by a competent hand and published in 1848. 
This account has been edited with notes by William E. Connelley, who 
has also printed the official rosters of the eleven volunteer companies. 

(b). Frank S. Edwards's A Campaign in New Mexico. The 
author was a private in a company of Missouri artillery and gives 
concrete details of the march to Santa Fe. 

(c). Lieutenant W. H. Emory's Notes of a Military Beconnois- 
sance. The author was attached to the "Army of the West" as a 
topographical engineer and from August 2-18, 1846, gives a daily 
account of the march. Emory's unofficial diary of the march from 
August 2nd to September 5th is printed in Niles ' Begister, Vol. LXXI, 
pp. 138-140, 157-159, 174, 175. 

A map in Lieutenant Emory's Notes gives a detailed topograph- 
ical view of the route from Fort Leavenworth to Santa Fe and also of 
General Kearny's march from that point to San Diego. 

(d). Lieutenant J. W. Abert's Notes published as an appendix 
to Emory's Notes presents the climatic, topographical, and botanical 
features along the route pursued by the "Army of the West". 

(e).. The journal of an anonymous officer from August 13 to 23, 
1846, is printed in Niles' Begister, Vol. LXXI, pp. 90-92. 

isoParkman's The Oregon Trail, pp. 377, 378 (New Library 
Edition). 

CHAPTER XV 

181 Emory's Notes of a Military Beconnoissance gives a detailed 
story of the march from Santa Pe to San Diego. Captain Johnston's 
Journal is a daily record from September 25 to December 4, 1846, 
and is printed in House Executive Documents, 1st Session, 30th Con- 
gress, Doc. 41, pp. 567-614. General Kearny's reports of this expe- 
dition are printed in Senate Documents, 1st Session, 30th Congress, 
Vol. I, Doc. 1, pp. 513-517, and the same are reprinted in Niles' 
Begister, Vol. LXXII, pp. 170, 171. The brief report by Major 
Swords is in House Executive Documents, 2nd Session, 30th Congress, 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 261 

Vol. I, Doe. 1, pp. 226-228. Good secondary accounts are to be 
found in Sabin 's Kit Carson Days ; Brackett 's History of the United 
States Cavalry, pp. 69-77; and Bancroft's History of California, 
Vol. V, Chs. XIII and XV. In the latter are contained elaborate 
lists of references which refer to minute and detailed phases of this 
campaign and to the subsequent disputes between the commanders. 

182 Captain Johnston's journal ends with December 4, 1846, just 
two days before his death. 

183 A great amount of controversy arose out of this battle for 
which General Kearny was severely censured. The subsequent dis- 
putes between Kearny, Fremont, and Stockton were presented by 
Senator Benton who plead the cause of Fremont, then his son-in-law. 
This speech of sixty pages given in the Senate is in the Congressional 
Globe, 1st Session, 30th Congress, Appendix, pp. 977-1040. 

184 Richman's California Under Spain and Mexico, 1535-1847, pp. 
325-327. 

OHAjPTER XVI 

185 Executive Documents, 1st Session, 31st Congress, Vol. VIII, 
Doc. 51. This document upon which the text is mainly based consists 
of the following material: 

(a). Adjutant General R. Jones's instructions, dated April 18, 
1849. 

(b). Reports from the Indian agents at St. Peter's and Long 
Prairie in 1848 and 1849. 

(c). Major Woods's twenty-eight page report, dated Fort Snell- 
ing, November 10, 1849. 

(d). Two letters from G. A. Belcourt, describing the half-breeds 
and dated November 25, 1845, and August 20, 1849. 

(e). Two letters from Captain John Pope, dated October 1 and 
3, 1849. 

(f). Captain Pope's map of the route pursued by the expedition. 

186 Approximately on the present site of Sauk Rapids in Benton 
County, Minnesota. 

187 Across the present Stearns County in Minnesota. 

188 Whipple Lake or Reno Lake in Pope County, Minnesota. 



262 MARCHES OF THE DRAGOONS 

189 Likely the present Pomme de Terre Lake in Grant County. 

100 Near Wahpeton in Richlands County, North Dakota. 

181 The command travelled over the counties of Grand Forks, 
Walsh, and Pembina in North Dakota. 

192 Collections of the State Historical Society of North Dakota, 
Vol. I, pp. 384^-405. 

103 Marble's To Bed Biver and Beyond in Harper's New Monthly 
Magazine, Vol. XXI, pp. 581-606 at 584, 585. 

CHAPTER XVII 

194 From the Post Becords of Fort Leavenworth in the Adminis- 
tration Building, dated May 28, 1846, July 13, 1848, and November 6 
and 10, 1849. 

195 Post Becords of Fort Leavenworth, May 14, 1849. 

10^ Post Becords of Fort Leavenworth; Captain Chas. S. Lovell to 
Major D. C. Buell, July 30, 1850. 

107 Post Becords of Fort Leavenworth, January 26, 1850. 

108 Post Becords of Fort Leavenworth ; Lieutenant Colonel E. V. 
Sumner to Major D. C. Buell, January 30, 1851. 

199 Post Becords of Fort Leavenworth, May 16, 22, 1846. 

200 Post Becords of Fort Leavenworth; Colonel Sumner to Major 
General R. Jones, July 12, 1851. 

201 Quoted in Crothers 's Humanly Speaking, p. 60. 

202 Lowe 's Five Years a Dragoon, pp. 24, 25, 45, 46. 

203 Post Becords of Fort Leavenworth, January 19, May 25, June 
7, July 8, 1849. 

204 Pos* Becords of Fort Leavenworth, May 12, 1850. 

205 Lowe 's Five Years a Dragoon, pp. 20-22. 

206 Quoted from Lowe 's Five Years a Dragoon, p. 22. 
207 Lowe's Five Years a Dragoon, p. 28. 

208 Lowe 's Five Years a Dragoon, pp. 24, 26. 



NOTES AND REFERENCES 263 

209 Quoted from Lowe 's Five Years a Dragoon, pp. 31, 32. 

APPENDIX 

210 This episode is described in Gregg's Commerce of the Prairies, 
Vol. II, pp. 166-168. 

211 Located near the present site of the village of Choteau in Mayes 
County in Oklahoma. 

212 Manuel Armijo was governor of New Mexico (except during a 
brief interval) from 1838 to the American occupation in 1846. 

213 See note 152 in Chapter IX, 



INDEX 



265 



INDEX 



Abert, J. W., 145, 260; journal of, 
146 

Adjutant General, 181 

Agatha (Steamboat), 95 

Agency (Iowa), dragoons at, 53 

Agency, location of Indian, 254 

Albuquerque, 152 

Allen, James, command of, 82 ; march 
of, 90, 91; reference to, 92, 116, 
119, 142, 256; recommendations of, 
94, 95; disrepute of, 95, 96; jour- 
ney of, 108-114; description by, 
109; opinion of, 110, 111, 112; 
exploration by, 110; journal of, 114 

American Fur Company, 92, 124, 126 

Anderson, Richard H., 183, 202, 208, 
235 

Angry Man (Chief), welcome by, 67; 
reference to, 68, 69 

Antelope (Steamboat), 79 

Antelope, herds of, 67, 71, 97, 99, 
123; reference to, 130, 131, 132, 
146, 195, 196, 205 

Apache Indians, 139, 153, 154 

Apothleohole, town of, 236 

Arapaho Indians, 68, 69; dragoons 
among, 72 ; council with, 72 

Arbuckle, Matthew, 25 ; command of, 
79 

Arickara Indians, council with, 69, 
70 ; location of, 69 ; character of, 
69; number of, 69, 70; friendship 
of, 73, 74 

Arkansas, forts in, 79 ; settlement of, 
85; limestone in, 188 

Arkansas, Territory of, 1, 29 ; boun- 
dary of, 24 

Arkansas River, 9, 35, 64, 71, 72, 73, 
74, 86, 105, 106, 120, 136, 137, 
144, 145, 146, 170, 182, 184, 187, 



189, 194, 195, 203, 212, 223, 225, 
230, 237, 245, 257; march down, 
74, 75; high water in, 80, 210, 
211; expedition to, 92, 93; dra- 
goons on, 97, 102, 105, 139, 183, 
185; crossing of, 99, 192, 205, 206, 
208; route of Boone along, 189- 
193, 205-214; timber along, 189- 
193, 205, 206, 207, 213; rock 
formation along, 189-193, 196,205; 
tributaries of, 189, 191, 192, 193, 
206, 207, 208; topography along, 
189-193, 206, 207, 208; soil along, 
189-193, 213, 214; vegetation 
along, 191-193, 208; depth of, 192, 
206 (see also Salt Fork of the 
Arkansas River and Cimarron 
River) 

Armijo, Manuel, 148, 149, 213, 263; 
wife of, 152 

Army, size of, 1, 115; distribution of, 
1 ; western department of, 1 ; re- 
cruiting of, 1, 2 ; desertions from, 
2-4; punishment in, 2, 3; intem- 
perance in, 4, 5 ; pay in, 5 ; moral 
culture in, 5, 6 ; uniforms of, 6 ; 
equipment of, 6 ; monotony in, 6, 7 ; 
interest in, 7; manual labor in, 7; 
service of, 8 ; description of mobili- 
zation of, 143, 144 

Army of the West, dragoons in, 142- 
150, 151; description of march of, 
144-150; provisions for, 144, 145 

Artillery, addition of, 143 

Ash Creek, buffalo on, 107; reference 
to, 124, 141 

Ash Hollow, 124 

Atkinson, Henry, location of Jefferson 
Barracks by, 17; reference to, 18 

Atlantic Ocean, 132 



267 



268 



INDEX 



Audubon, John J., visit of, to Port 

Croghan, 94 
Audubon, Maria R., 255 
Axe (Chief), 68 

Baker, Mathias S., 169 

Baldwin, Private, 170, 174 

Barracks, erection of, 80, 81 

Bartlett, Corporal, 246 

Beach, John, 90, 95, 254, 255; opin- 
ion of, 91 

Beale, Lieutenant, 158 

Bean, Private, death of, 187, 223 

B«ar, 110, 114, 130, 131 

Bear Lake, dragoons at, 163 

Beatte, speech of, 43 

"Bedlam", 175, 176 

Beef, price of, 171 

Belcourt, G. A., 165, 261 

Bellevue, dragoons at, 82 

Benson County (North Dakota), 257 

Bent, Charles, 72, 138, 212 

Bent's Fork, dragoons at, 137; de- 
scription of, 138, 139 

Bent's Fort, army at, 146, 147, 148; 
cattle from, 212 

Benton, Thomas H., 261 

Big Elk (Chief), character of, 66 

Big John Spring, 144 

Big Red Fork of the Arkansas River 
(see Cimarron River) 

Big Sioux River, 111; valley of, 113 

Big Stone County (Minnesota), 257 

Big Stone Lake, dragoons at, 117 

Birds, kinds of, 123 

Birdsall, E. B., command of, 86 

Black Dog (Chief), 35 

Black Hawk Purchase, treaty of, 76 

Black Hawk War, 12, 18, 22 

Black Hills, dragoons in, 131 

Black Jack Point, 103 

Blackfeet Indians, 72 

Bloomfield (Iowa), 90 

Blue Camp, 103 

Blue-coat (Chief), 68 

Blue Earth County (Minnesota), 257 

Blue Earth River, dragoons on, 108 

Blue River, crossing of, 121, 236 



Boat, construction of skin, 211, 212 

Bomford, George, 241 

Bonnell, Joseph, 80 

Bonneville, Captain, 124, 128, 133 

Boone, Daniel, son of, 181 

Boone, Nathan, 49, 52, 98, 101, 169, 
195, 201, 208, 211, 223, 224, 227, 
231, 232, 237, 255, 256, 257; com- 
mand of, 82, 99, 183 ; march of, 
86, 87; expedition of, 97, 102; 
journal of, 99, 100, 102, 181-237; 
sketch of life of, 181, 182; report 
of, 181, 183-188; route of expedi- 
tion of, 183-237; beginning of 
march of, 189 

Boonville (Missouri), 50 

Boston, recruits from, 2 

Bounties, payment of, 2 

Boyer River, 255 

Bradford, William, death of, 28; 
burial of, 29 

Brooke, George M., 85 

Browne, Jesse B., 36, 49, 52, 53,'246, 
247 

Bruce, Amos J., 257 

Bryant, Edwin, 259 

Brydon, Edward, 174 

Buell, D. C, 262 

Buffalo, herds of, 9, 10, 37, 55, 69, 
71, 101, 105, 106, 107, 141, 146, 
165, 210, 211, 212, 213, 214, 215, 
216, 217; reference to, 10, 11, 111, 

130, 134, 135, 185, 203, 208, 209, 
222, 224, 225, 227, 248, 252; hunt- 
ing of, 29, 46, 100, 112, 113, 123, 

131, 167, 211, 219; evidence of, 
97, 99, 197; destruction of, 98, 
118, 197, 199; subsistence on meat 
of, 188; absence of, 195; curing 
meat of, 211 

Buffalo (New York), 14, 242 
Buford, John, 208 
Buford Avenue, 176 
Bull Tail (Chief), reply of, 129 
Bullett, George, speech of, 43 
Burgwin, John H. K., troop of, 14; 
reference to, 15, 30, 52, 53, 94, 
120, 144; fort established by, 93 



INDEX 



269 



Cache la Poudre River, 136 

Caches, camp at, 105 ; reference to, 

141 
Cactus, 125, 137 
Caddo Indians, 226 
Calhoun, John C, 76 
Calhoun, P., 110 
Calhoun County (Iowa), 257 
California, traders to, 99 ; reference 

to, 143, 153; campaign to, 151- 

160; conquest of, 152, 159, 160; 

dragoons in, 155 
Camanche Indians, country of, 34 ; 

control of, 34; reference to, 34, 37, 

39, 47, 138, 201, 232; dragoons 

among, 3 7 
Camp, description of, 139, 140 
Camp No. 1, 189 

Camp Burbees, description of, 23, 24 
Camp Cass, 31 
Camp Clyman, 246 
Camp Des Moines, 52 
Camp Fenwick, 93 
Camp Jackson, winter quarters at, 23- 

33; description of, 27; life at, 27, 

28, 29; Leavenworth at, 29, 30; 

dragoons at, 32 ; reference to, 245, 

246 
Camp Kearney, location of, 79 
Camp Leavenworth, 36 
Camp Sabine, location of, 77 
Camp Sandy, location of, 25 
Canada, settlers from, 118 
Canadian River, dragoons on, 97, 

101, 102; reference to, 187, 220, 

221, 224; rock formation along, 

226, 227, 233; timber along, 226, 

227, 228, 229, 230, 233, 236; 
tributaries of, 226, 228, 229, 230, 
231, 235, 236; topography along, 
227, 228, 229, 230, 231, 233, 235; 
gypsum on, 226, 227; crossing of, 
229; vegetation along, 230, 231; 
soil along, 232, 233, 235 (see also 
North Fork of the Canadian River) 

Cantonment Gibson, 1 (see also Fort 

Gibson) 
Cantonment Leavenworth, expedition 



at, 8, 12 (see also Fort Leaven- 
worth) 

Carbine Creek, 209 

Carlisle (Pennsylvania), recruits from, 
78, 79, 174 

Carson, Christopher, 133, 152, 158; 
opinion of, 153, 154 

Cass, Lewis opinion of, 13 ; reference 
to, 34, 48, 52, 241, 242, 247, 248 

Cassville (Missouri), 31 

Catlin, George, 35, 39, 246, 247,248; 
praise by, 48 

Cattle, loss of, 158; capture of, 159 

Cerro Gordo, dragoons at, 153 

Chambers, John, 90, 254 ; negotia- 
tions of, 91 

Chaplains, lack of, 5 

Charity, need of, for soldiers, 7, 8 

Chavey, Antonio J., murder of, 185, 
210 

Cherokee Indians, 35, 42, 47; loca- 
tion of, 77; uprising of, 80, 82 

Cherry Creek, 136, 137 

Cheyenne Indians, 68, 69, 135, 138, 
139; dragoons among, 72-74; coun- 
cils with, 72-74; character of, 72; 
friendship of, 74 

Chicago, description of, 61, 62; ref- 
erence to, 243 

Chikaskia River (see Shawwacospay 
River) 

Chimney Rock, 125 

Chippewa Indians, 163; battle ground 
of, 165 ; school for, 165 ; chiefs of, 
166; council with, 166; numbers 
of, 166 

Chippewa River, 163 

Choctaw Indians, 47; location of, 77 

Cholera, evidence of, 18 ; plague of, 
170 

Choteau, trading house of, 187, 231, 
232 

Choteau (Oklahoma), 263 

Chouteau's Island, 9; expedition at, 
10, 11; feast at, 11; dragoons at, 
139 

Chugwater River, dragoons on, 135 

Cimarron Crossing, 106, 141 



270 



INDEX 



Cimarron River, 101, 203, 220; tim- 
ber along, 221, 222, 224; buffalo 
along, 222 ; character of, 222, 223 ; 
crossing of, 222 ; salt on, 222, 223 ; 
valley of, 222 ; gypsum near, 222, 
223; rock strata near, 223, 224 
(called also Big Red Fork of the 
Arkansas River and Lower Red 
Fork of the Arkansas River) 

Cincinnati (Ohio), 14 

Clarksville (Tennessee), 15 

Clay County (Missouri), 260 

Clothing, lack of, 18, 19, 20 

Coffee, rations of, 140 

Coldwater Creek, 162 

Colorado, dragoons in, 64, 251 

Colorado River, 154, 155 

Columbia (Tennessee), 15 

Columbus (Ohio), 14 

Comanche Indians (see Camanche In- 
dians) 

Company A, commander of, 64, 209; 
location of, 129; death in, 252 

Company B, captain of, 49, 62 ; com- 
mander of, 53; location of, 89, 115, 
152 

Company C, commander of, 64, 209; 
reference to, 183 

Company D, 97, 183, 190, 191, 228 

Company E, recruiting of, 14 ; death 
in, 187, 223; reference to, 190, 210 

Company F, assembly of, 30; refer- 
ence to, 209 

Company G-, 30; commander of, 64; 
location of, 152 

Company H, assembly of, 30; captain 
of, 49 ; remnants of, 63 ; reference 
to, 204, 209, 210; death in, 234 

Company I, assembly of, 30 ; journal 
of, 31, 45, 46, 53, 246; captain of, 
49, 90; remnants of, 63; location 
of, 119, 152 

Company K, assembly of, 30; talent 
in, 175 

Conestoga wagons, 138 

Confederate States, President of, 14 

Congress, memorial to, 8 ; appropria- 
tion by, 80, 86 



Congress (Frigate), 159 

Connelley, William E., 260 

Consumption, deaths from, 5 

Cooke, Philip St. George, 10, 107, 
120, 122, 127, 130, 131, 133, 134, 
139, 185, 186, 213, 242, 258; ser- 
vice of, 14, 15 ; command of, 99, 
100, 105, 106, 209; escort duty 
by, 102-107; journal of, 104 

Cooke, Private, 21 

Coon Creek, 141 

Coons, 109 

Corn, lack of, 25 ; price of, 171 

Corser, John W., court-martial of, 173 

Cottonwood Creek, 9, 104, 144 (also 
called Cottonwood Fork) 

Council Bluffs, Camp Kearney near, 
79 ; agency at, 82, 93 ; march to, 
82, 83 ; fort at, 93 ; game near, 93 ; 
reference to, 255 

Council Grove, expedition at, 9 ; de- 
scription of, 103, 104; reference to, 
107 

Court House Rock, 125 

Court-martial, 169; account of, 173, 
174 

Cow Creek, 9, 105, 106, 145, 213; 
crossing of, 99 

Cowardice, punishment of, 3 

Cow-wa-map-sha Creek, 228 

Cox, Thomas, 158 

Coyote Creek, 148 

Creek Indians, 27, 42, 225; location 
of, 77; succor from, 233, 234 

Crockett, Davy, election of, to Con- 
gress, 15 

Croghan, George, visit of, to Fort Des 
Moines, 60 

Crosman, George H., 49 

Crow Creek, 136, 259 

Culver, Mr., 90 

Cumberland River, dragoons on, 15 

Cumberland Road, dragoons on, 14 

Dallas County, 114 
Davenport, Colonel, 183 
Davis, Jefferson, career of, 14; ref- 
erence to, 28 



INDEX 



271 



Davis County (Iowa), 90 

Dearborn wagons, 103, 213 

Deer, herds of, 67, 71, 97, 99, 109, 
130, 146, 192, 193 

Deer Creek, 130, 135 

Delaware Indians, village of, 24 ; ref- 
erence to, 35 ; leader of, 43 ; loca- 
tion of, 77 

Denver (Colorado), 251 

Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, 251 

Desertion, menace of, 2 ; causes of, 
2, 3, 4, 5 ; punishment for, 3 

De Smet, Father, 131 

Des Moines, site of, 57, 58; popula- 
tion of, 250 

Des Moines Rapids, 17 

Des Moines River, dragoons at mouth 
of, 50, 51; width of, at Raccoon 
Fork, 58; navigation of, 58; de- 
scent of, by Lea, 58, 59; reference 
to, 88, 254; fort on, 94; steamer 
on, 95; dragoons on, 108, 109; 
source of, 110 

Des Moines Valley, Kearny in, 49- 
59; removal of Indians from, 96 

Detroit (Michigan), dragoons at, 15 

Devils' Card Table, 237 

Devil's Gate, 131, 134 

Devil's Lake, dragoons at, 118 

Diamond Spring, 9, 144 ; camp at, 
104 

Diamond Spring (Kansas), 256 

Disease, prevalence of, 5 

Divide, dragoons at continental, 132 

Dodge, Henry, colonelcy of, 13 ; rec 
ommendations of, 19, 20; descrip 
tion of, 21, 22; reference to, 23 
25, 30, 36, 245, 246, 247, 248 
249, 251, 252; report of, 26; ene- 
mies of, 28 ; opinion of, on western 
march, 29; forced march of, 36 
command of, 36; arrival of, at 
Pawnee village, 39; councils of, 
with Indians, 39-45, 47, 65, 66 
68, 69, 70, 72-74; visit of Indians 
to, 43 ; praise of, 48 ; resignation 
of, 60 ; last dragoon march of, 64 
reward for, 75 ; order book of, 244 



Dodge City (Kansas), 256 

Dougherty, Major, 65, 69 

Dover (Tennessee), 15 

Dragoon, death of, 102 

Dragoon Creek, reason for naming of, 
223 

Dragoons, precursors of, 12 ; organ- 
ization of, 13, 14; advantages of, 
13 ; composition of, 13 ; service of, 
13 ; officers of, 13, 14, 120, 144, 
169, 246; troop of, 14; journey of, 
to Jefferson Barracks, 14-22 ; Com- 
pany E of, 14, 187, 190, 210, 223; 
spirits of, 16, 17, 32 ; camps of, 
16, 61, 112, 139, 140; hardships 
of, 18, 19, 20, 47, 48, 52, 54, 102, 
105, 109, 113, 147, 155, 156, 158, 
244, 245; manual labor by, 19, 51, 
81, 85, 172; desertion of, 19, 20, 
38, 60, 78, 170; equipment of, 
19, 20, 26, 29, 143, 151, 153; 
punishment of, 20, 21, 24, 173, 
174; training of, 20, 26, 32, 33; 
drill of, 21, 22, 104, 148; recruits 
for, 21, 78, 79, 115, 170, 242; 
horses for, 22 ; first march of, 23- 
25 ; march of, to Fort Gibson, 23- 
25, 30-32; stampede of horses of, 
26; disaffection among, 28; Com- 
pany I of, 30, 31, 45, 46, 49, 53, 
63, 90, 119, 152, 246; review of, 
30, 33; escort duty of, 30, 81, 82, 
97, 102, 103, 209, 210; Company 
H of, 30, 49, 63, 204, 209, 210, 
234; Company G of, 30, 64, 152; 
Company K of, 30, 175; Company 
F of, 30, 209; rations of, 31, 38, 
55, 108, 116, 140, 147, 155; sick- 
ness among, 31, 32, 36, 38, 46, 62, 
85, 134, 135, 147; expedition of, 
to Pawnees, 34-48 ; reorganization 
of, 36; Company B of, 49, 53, 62, 
89, 115, 152; exploration of Des 
Moines Valley by, 49-59; barracks 
for, 51, 52, 92; appearance of, 59, 
60, 61, 101, 120, 125, 158; Com- 
pany A of, 64, 129, 209, 252; 
Company C of, 64, 183, 209; trav- 



272 



INDEX 



els of, to Rocky Mountains, 64-75 ; 
inspection of, 69, 104, 140, 155 ; 
success of, 75 ; frontier work of, 
76-87, 257; strength of, 77, 78, 
85; location of, 79, 115; drowning 
of, 82, 83 ; patrol of, in Iowa Ter- 
ritory, 88-96; life of, 92; Company 
D of, 97, 183, 190, 191, 228; con- 
dition of, 101, 102, 252; march 
of, to Northwest, 108-114; visit 
of, among Sioux Indians, 115-119; 
Oregon trail march of, 120-133; de- 
scription of march of, 123, 124, 
125, 130, 131, 153, 154; return 
of, from South Pass, 134-141; ser- 
vice of, in Mexican War, 142-150; 
mule mounts for, 151; march of, to 
California, 151-160; route of, 153, 
154, 181, 251; march of, to Red 
River of the North, 161-168; re- 
port of, 168 ; drunkenness of, 169, 
170, 173, 174; stories of, 175, 
176; Boone in, 181, 182 

Drunkenness, punishment for, 3 ; 
court-martial for, 173, 174 

Dublin University, 175 

Dubuque, 117 

Ducks, flocks of, 109, 206 

Duffy (dragoon), 175 

Duncan, Matthew, command of, 64 

Dunlap's Ferry, dragoons at, 75 

East, Dr., 213 

Eastman, Corporal, 246 

Eaton, John H., 241 

Edwards, A. G., 246 

Edwards, trading house of, 187, 231, 

235 
"Elbow Lake", 163 
Elk, herd of, 65, 101, 109, 146, 209, 

215, 216; evidence of, 97 
Ellis, Mary, grave of, 122 
Elm Grove, 75 
Elm River, 164 
Emigrants, caravans of, 121, 122, 

123 ; numbers of, 133 ; reference 

to, 134, 135, 258 
Emmet County (Iowa), 257 



Emory, Lieutenant, journal of, 151, 

152 ; reference to, 154 
End of the Current (Chief), 166 
Erie (Pennsylvania), 14 
Escort, march of, 8-12 
Evans, Leroy C, 90 
Ewell, R. T., 170 

Fairfield (Iowa), mail from, 92 

Falls of St. Anthony, 59 

False Washita River, 40, 187, 227 

Falstaff, Jack, 21 

Far West, winning of, 133 

Farnham, Thomas J., 138 

Fayetteville (Arkansas), 25 

First United States Dragoons (see 
Dragoons) 

Fish, abundance of, 163 

Fitzpatrick, Thomas, 123, 124, 152 

Flagg, Edmund, 18 

Fleas, pestilence of, 62 

Florida, 176 

Forage, march for, 26 

Ford, Lemuel, command of, 64 

Forks of the Platte, 123 

Fort Armstrong, dragoons at, 17; lo- 
cation of, 243 

Fort Atkinson, dragoons at, 89 ; bar- 
racks at, 89; life at, 89; reference 
to, 90, 119, 254, 257; march from, 
115 

Fort Bent, trade at, 72 ; reference to, 
143 

Fort Coffee, dragoons at, 79 

Fort Crawford, 6, 89; buildings at, 
7; dragoons at, 16, 17; troops at, 
85; Hoffman at, 243 

Fort Croghan, establishment of, 93 ; 
location of, 93, 255; name of, 93; 
purpose of. 93 ; description of, 94 

Fort Des Moines (No. 1), naming of, 
52, 249; visitor at, 59, 60; social 
life at, 60 ; conditions at, 60 ; com- 
mander at, 60, 61 ; abandonment 
of, 62, 63; site of, 250 

Fort Des Moines (No. 2), location of, 
94 ; establishment of, 94 ; purpose 
of, 94; construction of, 95; quar- 



INDEX 



273 



ters at, 95 ; abandonment of, 96 ; 
expedition from, 108 ; return to, 
114; reference to, 116, 249; dra- 
goons at, 119 

Fort Des Moines (No. 3), 249 

Fort Garry, 167 

Fort Gibson, march to, 23-25, 30-32; 
Seventh Infantry at, 25; reference 
to, 27, 34, 42, 43, 49, 82, 85, 183, 
187, 189, 191, 235, 248, 249, 257; 
review at, 30; return to, 45-48, 
102, 237; Kearny at, 47; Indian 
council at, 47; dragoons at, 79, 
244; Indian uprising near, 80; 
expedition from, 97; topography 
about, 237 

Fort Holmes, 102, 235, 236 

Fort Howard, expedition to, 61 

Fort Laramie, 125, 134, 135, 258; 
importance of, 126; description of, 
126, 127 

Fort Leavenworth, 6, 46, 60, 64, 74, 
75, 80, 82, 85, 90, 93, 96, 104, 
106, 107, 139, 141, 143, 144, 155, 
158, 159, 209, 251, 252, 260; re- 
turn of dragoons to, 62 ; dragoons 
at, 79; military road to, 80, 81; 
quarters at, 80, 81, 86, 175, 176; 
expedition from, 92, 93, 120; re- 
turn to, from South Pass, 134-141; 
army headquarters at, 142 ; news 
from, 148; commandant of, 169; 
deaths at, 169; pest house at, 169; 
court-martial at, 169; discipline at, 
169, 170; mail for, 170; cholera 
at, 170; routine at, 170, 171; 
prices at, 171, 172; farm at, 171, 
172; visitors at, 172, 173; recruits 
at, 174; Christmas at, 174, 175; 
talent at, 175; winter evenings at, 
175; changes in, 176; War College 
at, 176; motion-pictures at, 176; 
Y. M. C. A. at, 176; prison at, 
176; incident at, 176, 177 

Fort Madison, saloons in, 59 

Fort Platte, 127 

Fort Sanford, dragoons at, 91; aban- 
donment of, 91 



Fort Scott, erection of, 93 ; location 

of, 93 
Fort Smith, dragoons at, 79; military 

road to, 80; barracks at, 81, 86; 

reference to, 85; provisions for, 86 
Fort Snelling, 1, 77, 119; military 

road to, 80, 81; provisions from, 

116; dragoons at, 161 
Fort Towson, military road to, 80 ; 

reference to, 257 
Fort Washita, 102, 229 
Fort Wayne, erection of, 81, 85, 86; 

location of, 81; garrison at, 86; 

abandonment of, 93 
Fountain Creek, 137 
Fox, Private, 175 
Fox Indians, 50, 90, 243 ; cession by, 

88; dragoons among, 91, 95; treaty 

with, 91, 92, 94; removal of, 96 
Fox River, dragoons on, 15, 62 
Franklin, Lieutenant, 258 
Franklin (Missouri), 30 
Freeborn County (Minnesota), de- 
scription of country in, 57 
Freight, cost of, 250 
Fremont, John C, 124, 128, 133, 

138, 258, 259, 261; conquest of 

California by, 152 
Fremont County (Wyoming), 259 
Frontier, location of, 1 ; soldiers on, 

1-12; defense of, 34, 76-87, 88 
Fruit, presence of wild, 71, 134, 146 
Fuel, scarcity of, 136 
Fur companies, protection of, 88 

Gaines, Edmund P., recommendations 
of, 2, 3; praise by, 75; reference 
to, 80, 241, 249, 251 

Galena (Illinois), 16, 59, 62, 163, 
243 

Gallagher, Joseph S., 241 

Gallaher, Ruth, 241 

Game, abundance of, 10, 11, 38, 93, 
106, 109, 110, 145, 152, 198, 204; 
subsistence on, 135 ; scarcity of, 
136, 137; hunting of, 154, 243 

Gantt, Captain, 65, 69, 72 

Gardiner, J. W. T., 163, 166 



19 



274 



INDEX 



Garrison life, monotony of, 59, 60 
Gasconade River, camp on, 31 
Geese, flocks of, 109 
Gibson, Captain, 156; wounds of, 157 
Gila River, dragoons on, 153, 154 
Gillespie, Archibald H., 156, 160 
Glennon (dragoon), 175 
Goose River, buffalo on, 165 
Grand Forks (North Dakota), 262 
Grand Island, dragoons at, 69 
Grand Pawnee Indians (see Pawnee 

Indians) 
Grand River, 25, 189 
Grant County (Minnesota), 262 
Grasshoppers, 145 
Gray, Lieutenant, 159 
Great Nemaha River, crossing of, 82 
Green Bay, dragoons in, 15, 61, 62 
Green Feather (Chief), 166 
Gregg, Josiah, 256 
Grier, Captain, 169 
Grier, William N., 91 
Gros Ventre Indians, 72 
Gypsum, reference to, 100, 188, 215, 
216, 217, 218, 222, 223; descrip- 
tion of, 203 

Half-breeds, 117, 118, 119; condi- 
tion of, 166, 167; character of, 
167 

Hamilton, Joseph V., opinion of, 83, 
84; reference to, 253 

Hamilton County (Kansas), 259 

Hamilton Coiinty (Nebraska), 67 

Hammond, Lieutenant, 156; death of, 
157 

Hare, description of, 196 

Hay, price of, 171 

"Heaven's Avenue", 131 

Helen Mar (Steamboat), dragoons on, 
14, 15 

Hildreth, James, 242 

Hill (dragoon), 175 

Hoiftnan, Charles F., 243 

Hogs, hunting of wild, 154 

Honorfi, Louis, land grant to, 50 

Horse Creek, 126, 135, 136 

Horse-flies, 162 



Horse meat, rations of, 155 ; feast of, 

159 
Horses, herds of wild, 37, 71, 101, 

214, 215, 217, 227; starvation of, 

107 
Horseshoe Creek, 129 
Hot Spring Gap, 134 
Howitzers, effectiveness of, 157 
Hudson Bay, 165 

Hudson Bay Company, 118, 161, 166 
Hughes, John T., 260 
Hundred and Ten Mile Creek, 103, 

107, 144 
Hunting, description of, 10, 11, 243 ; 

expedition for, 93, 94 

Ida County (Iowa), 257 

Illinois Creek, 25, 81 

Independence (Missouri), trail from, 
99; reference to, 103, 256 

Independence Rock, 131, 134 

Indian agents, cooperation with, 88 

Indian lands, zone of, 77; squatters 
on, 90; cession of, 91, 92 

Indians, attacks of, 9, 10 ; fighting of, 
30; policy toward, 34; employment 
of, on expedition, 35 ; painter of, 
35; relations of, 37; hospitality of, 
39; councils with, 39-45, 47, 64; 
songs of, 45, 46 ; friendship of, 48, 
75; hostility of, 61; presents for, 
66, 69, 70, 73, 117, 129, 135; re- 
ception by, 67; etiquette of, 67; 
peace among, 72 ; removal of, 76, 
77, 85, 96; numbers of, 77; pun- 
ishment of, 84; treaties with, 88, 
89; protection of, 89; appearance 
of, 91; poverty of, 93; reference 
to, 102, 161, 246; capture of, 117; 
labor of, 171; attitude of, 186, 187; 
camp of, 191; trade with, 247 (see 
also various tribes) 

Infantry (see Soldiers) 

Intemperance, extent of, 4, 5 ; results 
of, 4, 5 ; deaths from, 5 

Intoxication (see Drunkenness) 

Iowa, dragoons in, 108; character of 
northwestern, 110 



INDEX 



275 



Iowa City (Iowa), dragoons at, 91 

Iowa Indians, location of, 77 

Iowa River, Foxes on, 96 

Iowa Territory, settlement of, 85 ; dra- 
goons in, 88-96 ; military posts in, 
88-96; Indian cessions in, 88, 89, 
91, 92; Governor of, 90; area of, 
108, 115 

Irvine, C, 241 

Izard, J. F., 11 

Jackson, Andrew, 13, 41, 42, 43, 66, 
70 

Jackson (Tennessee), election at, 15 

Jackson Grove, 145 

Jefferson Barracks, 6, 7, 79, 80, 243; 
expedition from, 8 ; march of dra- 
goons to, 13-22 ; description of, 17, 
18 ; cholera at, 18 ; strategic loca- 
tion of, 18; dragoons at, 30 

Jefferson County (Iowa), 92, 257 

Jesuits, mission of, 79 

Jesup, Thomas S., 253 

Johnson County (Nebraska), 251 

Johnston, Abraham R., 97, 102, 155, 
183, 187, 191, 209, 229, 260; 
command of, 156; death of, 157; 
accident to, 185, 186 

Joliet, Louis, 15 

Jones, George W., 245 

Jones, Roger, 29, 241 

Jordan, James, 90 

June, Chotian, 164 

Jutan (Chief), appearance of, 65; 
councils with, 66 

Kansas, dragoons in, 64; fort in, 93; 
trails across, 97 

Kansas Indians, location of, 77 

Kansas River, 75, 144 

Kearney Avenue, 176 

Kearny, Stephen W., choice of, as 
lieutenant colonel, 14 ; reference to, 
14, 32, 36, 52, 82, 124, 125, 126, 
133, 134, 137, 139, 140, 144, 146, 
154, 160, 249, 250, 256, 258, 259, 
260, 261; arrival of, at Fort Gib- 
son, 47; praise for, 48; exploration 



of Des Moines Valley by, 49-59 ; 
treaty negotiated by, 56 ; forced 
marches by, 57; promotion of, 60, 
148; recommendations of, 78; com- 
mand of, 79, 128, 129; council of, 
with Indians, 83, 84, 85, 89, 127- 
129, 135; Oregon Trail march of, 
120-133; route of, 121, 129, 130; 
welcome of, 127; army of, 142, 
143; proclamation of, 149, 150; 
march of, to California, 151-160; 
wounds of, 157; reinforcements for, 
158, 159 

Keokuk (Chief), village of, 53 

Keokuk (Iowa), 250 

Kickapoo Indians, reservation of, 65 ; 
location of, 77 

Kimball (dragoon), 175 

King, Mathew, death of, 10 

Kingsbury, G. P., journal by, 65 ; ref- 
erence to, 65, 72, 74, 251 

Kiowa Indians, 35, 37, 39, 47, 248; 
friendship of, 44; visit of, to Fort 
Gibson, 45 

Kittson, Norman W., 164, 165 

Kossuth County (Iowa), march 
through, 57 

Labashure, Frank, 54 

Labor, cost of, 171 

Lac-qui-parle, 116 

Lac qui Parle County (Minnesota), 

257 
Lake Huron, dragoons on, 15 
Lake Pepin, 56 
Land grant, 50 

Langworthy, Assistant Surgeon, 170 
Laramie Peak, 126 
Laramie River, 127; dragoons on, 135 
Las Vegas, 148 
Latrobe, Charles J., 243 
Lea, Albert M., 52, 54, 57, 58, 249 
Leavenworth, Henry, arrival of, 29, 

30; reference to, 33, 36, 246; death 

of, 46 
Lightning Lake, naming of, 163 
Limestone, description of, 188, 191, 

192, 193 



276 



INDEX 



Little Arkansas Biver, traders on, 99 ; 
reference to, 104, 105, 210; camp 
on, 206, 207 

Little Blue River, 121, 137 

Little Chief, 68 

Little Nemaha River, crossing of, 82 

Little River, 187, 229, 230, 232; 
crossing of, 234; timber along, 235 

Little Rock, 189 

Lizards, 154 

Locusts, ravages of, 121 

Long Legs (Chief), 166 

Long Prairie, 261 

Long's Peak, 136 

Los Angeles, 153, 160 

Louisiana, Camp Sabine in, 77; set- 
tlement of, 85 

Louisiana Purchase, removal of In- 
dians to, 76; settlement of, 85 

Louisville (Kentucky), 14 

Lovell, Captain, report of, 170 

Lovell, Charles S., 262 

Lovell, Jos., 241 

Lowell, James R., poem of, 173 

Lower Red Fork of the Arkansas Riv- 
er (see Cimarron River) 

Lowry, David, 254 

Lupton, Lan. P., command of, 64 

Lyon County (Iowa), 113 

McClure, George W., death of, 46 

McCrate, Thomas, 91 

McKenzie, Private, 175 

Macomb, Alexander, 241, 253 

Madison, James, 181 

Magpies, 131 

Marquette, Father, 15 

Martin, Judge, murder of, 40 ; son of, 

41 
Martin, Matthew W., 41 
Mason, Richard B., 22, 28, 81, 232; 

promotion of, 61; report of, 62 
Mason's Fort, 232 
Mayes County (Oklahoma), 263 
Medal, gift of, 73 
Medium Lake, 109, 257 
Merrill, Moses, 253 
Mexican War, volunteers for, 142, 



144; dragoons in, 142; veterans of, 
175 

Mexicans, escort of, 106; salute to, 
106; trade with, 139; army of, 
148, 149; prosperity of, 149; arms 
of, 157; skirmish with, 158, 159, 
160 

Mexico, expedition into, 8, 9 ; trade 
with, 103 ■ boundary of, 106 ; war 
with, 142, 176 

Military posts, 12; line of, 77, 78; 
construction of, 79; need of, 81; 
erection of temporary, 88 

Military roads, construction of, 7 ; lo- 
cation of, 79; survey of, 80; work 
on, 80, 81 

Militia, rallying point of, 79 

Miller, O. H. P., 56 

Miller (dragoon), 175 

Milwaukee (Wisconsin), dragoons at, 
62 

Minnesota, dragoons in, 55, 108, 161 

Minnesota River, 110, 111, 115, 257 
(see also St. Peter's River) 

Mirages, 154; description of, 202,203 

Missionaries, 116; school of, 165 

Mississippi River, dragoons on, 15, 
16, 161, 162; scenes along, 16, 56; 
Indians in valley of, 77, 85 ; refer- 
ence to, 78, 88, 243 

Mississippi Valley, 133 

Missouri, boundary of, 24 ; reference 
to, 29, 137, 177; topography of, 
50; settlement of, 85; removal of 
Indians to, 96 ; volunteers in, 142 ; 
limestone in, 188 

Missouri Historical Society, 258 

Missouri Indians, location of, 83 ; con- 
dition of, 83; council with, 83, 84 

Missouri River, march to, 11, 12 
crossing of, 50, 84; reference to 
78, 98, 114, 126, 173, 176; dra 
goons on, 79, 108; road along, 82 
scenery along, 82 ; Indian raid on 
86; fort on, 93; Audubon on, 94 
valley of, 121 

Monpisha (Chief), 43 

Montrose (Iowa), 51 



INDEX 



277 



Moore, Benjamin D., 120, 130, 144, 
185, 186, 213; command of, 156; 
death of, 157 

Morality, agencies for, 4, 5 

Moro Creek, 148 

Morris County (Kansas), 256 

Mortality, rate of, 5 

Mosquitoes, 134, 144, 145, 163, 164, 
165, 205 

Mounted Rangers, 181 

Mulberry Grove, dragoons at, 99; ref- 
erence to, 185, 206 

Mule meat, rations of, 158 

Mules, dragoons mounted on, 151 

Muskogee County (Oklahoma), 245 

Mutiny, punishment for, 3 

Nashville (Tennessee), dragoons at, 15 
Navajo Indians, uprisings of, 152 
Nebraska, dragoons in, 64, 65 
Nelson, A. D., 166, 167 
Nemaha County (Nebraska), 251 
Nemaha River, crossing of, 65 
Neosho River, military post on, 245 
Nescatunga River (see Salt Fork of 

the Arkansas River) 
Nes-cu-ca-sca-pay River, 223 
New Mexico, 142, 153, 263 
New Orleans, 243 
New York, dragoons from, 242 
New York City, recruits from, 2, 14 
Neutral Ground, occupation of, 88 
Nicollet, J. N., 110 
Nicollet County (Minnesota), 257 
Ninnescah River, 187, 224; charac- 
ter of, 204, 214; topography along, 
204, 215; game along, 204, 215; 
vegetation along, 204, 214; rock 
formation along, 204, 205; tribu- 
tary of, 205; gypsum near, 215 
Nishnabotna River, Indian uprising 

along, 86, 87 
Noble, Patrick, 110, 111, 144 
North Dakota, dragoons in, 161 
North Fork of the Canadian River, 
187, 224, 226, 227; vegetation 
along, 224, 225; topography along, 
224, 225; gypsum along, 224; tim- 



ber along, 224, 225, 236; tributary 
of, 225; crossing of, 236 
North Platte River, dragoons on, 129, 
130 

Oats, price of, 171 

O'Brien, James, 170, 174 

Ocate River, 148 

Ohio River, dragoons on, 14, 15 

Oklahoma, trails in, 97 

Omaha Indians, dragoons among, 65 
council with, 66; territory of, 66 
number of, 66; location of, 77 
escort for, 82 

Omega (Steamboat), 94; crew of, 255 

Oregon, emigrants to, 126, 131, 134 

Oregon Trail, Kearny on, 120-133; 
description of, 121, 122; emigrants 
on, 133; reference to, 141, 258, 
259 

Oregon Trail Junction, 103 

Osage (Iowa), dragoons in vicinity 
of, 56 

Osage Indians, 27, 35, 47, 183, 186, 
201, 204, 224, 225; buffalo hunt- 
ing by, 29; band of, 35; peace 
with, 42 ; leader of, 43 ; location 
of, 77; dragoons among, 98; theft 
by, 184, 185, 199-201, 205; chief 
of, 184, 186, 217, 219; camp of, 
198, 199, 216 

Osage mission, 49 

Osage River, 75, 78 

Osage trail, 191, 192, 194 

O'Shea (dragoon), 175 

Oto Indians, dragoons among, 65, 66 ; 
location of, 77, 83 ; uprising of, 82, 
86, 87; condition of, 83; council 
with, 83, 84; village oi, 251 

Otoe County (Nebraska), 251 

Owls, 144 

Pacific coast, army on, 151 
Pacific Ocean, 132, 159 
Pacific Slope, 176 
Paducah (Kentucky), 15 
Pa-ha-bee Creek, 184, 204; rock 
formation on, 199 



278 



INDEX 



Palmer, Joel, 121, 122, 123, 134, 258 

Park River, 165 

Parkman, Francis, 122, 258; obser- 
vation of, 147 

Parrott, J. C, 56, 246 

Partridges, 215 

Patrol duty, 90 

Pawnee chiefs, visit of, to Fort Gib- 
son, 45 

Pawnee expedition, appearance of, 35 

Pawnee Fork, dragoons at, 74 ; cross- 
ing of, 74; reference to, 106, 141 

Pawnee Indians, expedition to, 34-48 ; 
country of, 34, 77; control of, 34; 
signs of, 36; reference to, 37, 47, 
84, 98, 199, 200, 201; prisoner of, 
40, 41; dragoons among, 67-69; 
tribes of, 67, 68; condition of, 68; 
council with, 68, 69 ; friendship of, 
73, 74 

Pawnee Loups, chief of, 68 (see also 
Pawnee Indians) 

Pawnee Mohas, 187 

Pawnee Peaks, 221, 223 

Pawnee Pict Indians (see Pawnee 
Indians) 

Pawnee Pict village, 34 

Pawnee Republics, chief of, 68 (see 
also Pawnee Indians) 

Pawnee Tappeige Indians, chief of, 
68 (see also Pawnee Indians) 

Pawnee village, description of council 
at, 45 

Pawsa Salt (see Pewsa Salt) 

Pay, rate of, 173 

Pecos, dragoons at, 149 

Peltries, marketing of, 163 

Pembina (North Dakota), dragoons 
to, 161, 165; reference to, 163, 
164, 262; missionary in, 165; set- 
tlement at, 165; description of, 
165; Indians about, 166; social 
life at, 167; military post at, 167, 
168; departure of dragoons from, 
168 

Pembina River, 165 

Pemmican, marketing of, 163 

Pennsylvania, recruits from, 52 



Peoria (Illinois), dragoons at, 61; 
reference to, 243 

Perkins, David, captaincy of, 14 

Perry, Captain, 173 

Perryville (Tennessee), recruits from, 
15 

Pewsa Salt, 203, 217, 218, 219 

Pico, Andres, command of, 156, 157 

Pike's Peak, 136, 137 

Pioneers, character of, 172, 173 

Pittsburg wagons, 103 

Pittsburgh (Pennsylvania), lumber 
from, 51 

Plains, desolation of, 130, 131, 132; 
description of, 136, 176 

Platte County, court of, 172 

Platte River, dragoon march along, 
64, 65, 67, 122, 123; valley of, 
67; reference to, 69, 71, 82, 126, 
135, 136, 251; crossing of, 82 

Poinsett, Joel R., plans of, 79; refer- 
ence to, 252 

Pole Creek, 136 

Pomme de Terre Lake (Minnesota), 
262 

Pope, John, 166, 261 

Pope County (Minnesota), 261 

Pork, price of, 171 

Portsmouth (Sloop), 159 

Post Records, contents of, 169, 176 

Potawatomi Indians, location of, 77; 
Jesuits among, 79; dragoons 
among, 84, 85, 87, 108; treaty 
with, 84, 85; lands of, 84, 85; ref- 
erence to, 93 

Prairie, appearance of, 8, 9, 145, 
146, 162; condition of, 53, 54; 
Gibraltar of, 125, 126; march 
across, 183 

Prairie chickens, 144 

Prairie dogs, 99, 123, 137, 198 

Prairie du Chien (Wisconsin), 59, 
243; treaty at, 76 

Price, B. F., 246 

Prices, record of, 171, 172 

Prisoners, exchange of, 41, 43, 44 

Provisions, prices of, 171, 172 

Pueblo (Colorado), 251 



INDEX 



279 



Punishment, nature of, 174 
Purgatory River, 147 

Quail, 144 

Queenstown Heights, 14 

Rabbits, 215 

Raccoon Fork of the Des Moines Riv- 
er, dragoons at, 53, 55; return to- 
ward, 57; post at, 58, 94 

Raccoon River, fort on, 94; dragoons 
on, 114, 257; valley of, 114 

Ramsey County (North Dakota), 257 

Rangers, organization of, 12 ; reor- 
ganization of, 13; captain of, 181 

Rations, reduction of, 147 

Rattlesnakes, 130, 145 

Recruiting, expense of, 1, 2 

Red Buttes, 130 

Red Fork of the Arkansas River (see 
Salt Fork of the Arkansas River) 

Red River, Indians on, 34, 77; ref- 
erence to, 35, 38, 78, 230, 257 

Red River of the North, 118, 168; 
visit of Woods to, 161-168; cross- 
ing of, 164; military post on, 164; 
valley of, 164; branches of, 165 

Red River trail, dragoons on, 162 

Red River Valley, products of, 163, 
164 

Reno Lake (Minnesota), 261 

Reynoldsburgh (Tennessee), 15 

Rice, Corporal, 246 

Richardson County (Nebraska), 251 

Richlands County (North Dakota), 
262 

Riley, Bennet, march of, 8-12 ; refer- 
ence to, 103, 242 

Rio Grande River, dragoons on, 151, 
152, 153 

Roberts, Benj. S., 51 

Roberts, Sergeant, 21 

Roberts County (South Dakota), 257 

Rock Island (Illinois), 62 

Rock Salt, 101, 217, 256; dragoons 
at, 186; examination of, 186, 187 

Rocky Mountains, 29; dragoon trav- 
els to, 64-75; view of, 71 



"Rocky Mountain album", 131 

Rogers (dragoon), 175 

Rolette, Joe, 165 

Round Grove, 75, 103 

Ruff, C. F., command of, 90, 92 

Rush River, 164 

Ryburn, Colonel, 183, 184 

Sac Indians, 50, 58, 90, 243; cession 
by, 88 ; dragoons among, 91, 95 ; 
treaty with, 91, 92, 94; country of, 
249 

Sac and Fox Agency, 91, 95, 254 

Sackett's Harbor, dragoons from, 14 

Sagebrush, 125 

Sage grouse, 130, 131, 132 

St. Anthony, 243 

St. Louis, soldiers in, 7, 8 ; hospital 
in, 8; dragoons in, 16, 17; refer- 
ence to, 50, 138, 243, 250; sup- 
plies from, 95 ; troops from, 142 ; 
mail from, 170; prices at, 171 

St. Paul, 163 

St. Paul (Steamboat), 170 

St. Peter's, 261 

St. Peter's River, dragoons on, 108 

St. Vincent parish, 167 

St. Vrain, Ceran, 72, 138 

Salt, presence of, 100, 101, 208, 209 

Salt Fork of the Arkansas River, 182, 
183, 184, 187, 202, 203, 204, 217, 
222 ; route of Boone along, 194- 
199; topography along, 194-198, 
200, 217, 218; vegetation along, 
194-198, 201, 217; rock formation 
along, 194-200, 217, 218; crossing 
of, 196; tributaries of, 196, 197, 
198, 199, 202, 203, 204 

Salt plains, 182, 183, 184, 188; dra- 
goons on, 186, 187; report of, 199; 
exploration of, 201-203; descrip- 
tion of, 201-203, 218, 219; vegeta- 
tion on, 203, 221; game on, 203; 
salt formation on, 218, 219, 220; 
gj'psum on, 220, 221; rock forma- 
tion of, 221; topography of, 221; 
water on, 224, 225 

Salt Rock (see Rock Salt) 



280 



INDEX 



San Bernardo, dragoons at, 158 

San Diego, march of dragoons to, 
151-160; capture of, 156; rein- 
forcements from, 158, 159; arrival 
of dragoons at, 159 ; reference to, 
260 

San Gabriel River, skirmish at, 159, 
160 

San Isabel, 156 

San Pascual, battle at, 156, 157 

Sandstone, 189, 190, 191 

Santa Anna, 106 

Santa Fe, escort to, 30; traders to, 
81, 97; trail to, 97, 99, 107, 184, 
185; reference to, 103, 105, 106, 
138, 143, 146, 147, 148, 207, 256, 
260 ; refugee from, 148 ; occupa- 
tion of, 149, 150; departure from, 
151; dragoons at, 152, 170 

Santa Fe Trail, soldiers on, 8-12 ; 
dragoons on, 64, 74, 141, 144; 
traders on, 102, 207; reference to, 
120, 209; route along, 206 

Santa Maria, dragoons at, 156 

Sauk Indians, captives of, 82 (see 
also Sac Indians) 

Sauk Rapids (Minnesota), 162, 164, 
168, 261 

Sauk River, dragoons on, 162 

Scott, Winfield, 257, 258 

Scott's Bluffs, 125 

Second United States Dragoons, 182 

Secretary of War, opinion of, 5, 79; 
reference to, 35 

Seminole Indians, 27, 77 

Senate (United States), report to, 8 

Seneca Indians, 35, 47 

Sequoyah County (Oklahoma), 254 

Seventh United States Infantry, 25 

Shawnee Indians, location of, 77; 
reference to, 230, 232 

Shaw-wa-cos-pay River, Boone on, 
203; vegetation along, 203, 204; 
rock formation on, 203, 204; game 
on, 204; reference to, 204, 217; 
description of valley of, 215, 216, 
217; crossing of, 216 (now called 
Chikaskia River) 



Sheep, herds of mountain, 131 

Shetek Lake, exploration of, 110; 
scenery about. 111 

Sheyenne River, 164 

Simonton, J. P., fort built by, 85 

Simpson, Dr., 191 

Simpson, Sergeant, 183 

Sioux City, dragoons in vicinity of, 
114 

Sioux Falls, dragoons at, 112 

Sioux Indians, fort of, 55 ; trade 
with, 56; appearance of, 56; ref- 
erence to, 58, 93; war with, 68; 
cession by, 88; theft by. 111, 112, 
117, 118; visit of Sumner among, 
115-119; hostility of, 117; hunting 
ground of, 118, 119; council with, 
127-129; chief of, 129; battle 
ground of, 165 

Sioux villages, expedition to, 53 

Sixth United States Infantry, 18, 49 

Skunk River, 95 

Smart, Josiah, 92 v 

Socorro (Mexico), 152 

Soldiers, distribution of, 1 ; charity 
for, 7, 8 ; families with, 8 ; long 
march of, 8-12 ; life of, 12 ; routine 
of, 170, 171; conflict of, with civ- 
ilians, 172; discharge of, 172; pay 
of, 173 (see also Dragoons and 
Army) 

Sonora (Mexico), 155 

South Dakota, dragoons in, 108 

South Pass, march to, 120-133; dra- 
goons through, 132 ; reference to, 
133, 259; return from, 134-141 

South Platte River, 64, 124, 136, 
137; scenery along, 71 

Spanish, settlements of, 126 

Spies, capture of, 146 

Springfield (Missouri), description of, 
31 

Springfield (Ohio), 14 

Squatters, removal of, 90, 172 

Squirrels, 109 

Stanton, Henry, 253 

State Historical Society of Iowa, ma- 
terial secured by, 181 



INDEX 



281 



stealing, punishment for, 3 

Stearns County (Minnesota), 261 

Steen, Enoch, command of, 64, 65 

Steuben ville (Ohio), 14 

Stockton, Robert F., conquest by, 152 ; 
reference to, 156, 160, 261 

Stokes, Edward, 156 

Storm, description of, 197, 210 

Stranger River, 144 

Styles, L. A., 246 

Subsistence, stock of, 65 

Sumner, Edwin V., recruiting service 
of, 14, 52, 78; reference to, 20, 
49, 148, 153, 171, 174, 242, 257, 
262; forage of, 26; command of, 
61; march of, 62; visit of, among 
Sioux Indians, 115-119; Indian 
council of, 117; protest of, 172 

Sumner Place, 176 

Surgeon General, opinion of, 4 

Swan Lake, 110, 257 

Swans, flocks of, 109 

Sweetwater Mountains, 133, 259 

Sweetwater River, dragoons on, 131, 
132 

Swords, Major, 260 

Swordsmanship, training in, 32 

Sykes, Dr., 166 

Table Creek, post at, 172 ; squatters 

on, 172 
Talbot, Private, 175 
Tallee (Chief), 186, 219 
Taos (Mexico), 138, 139 
Tarantulas, 154 
Ta-we-que-nah (Chief), 43 
Taylor, Zachary, 16, 181, 237, 243; 

appearance of, 60 ; letter from, 

182; report to, 188 
Tennessee, dragoons from, 15 
Terrill, Corporal, 246 
Tesson, Louis (see Honore) 
Texas, 176 

Thespian Society, programs of, 175 
Thompson, L. A., 246 
Timber, kinds of, 100, 103, 164, 187, 

188 (see also particular places) 
Timpas Creek, 147 



Toca-sa-ba (Chief), 186, 217 

Tongue River, 165 

Topography (see particular places) 

To-wan-ga-ha (Chief), 184, 217 

Toyash Indians (see Pawnee In- 
dians) 

Toyash village, guide to, 37, 38; de- 
scription of, 39 

Traders, caravan of, 8, 9, 11, 102, 
103, 141, 143, 185, 186, 207, 213; 
escort for, 30, 81, 97, 99, 209, 
210; protection of, 88 

Trappers, 126 

Traverse des Sioux, 116, 119 

Treaties, maintenance of, 88 

Treaty, negotiation of, with Indians, 
41, 42, 43, 91, 92; terms of, 94; 
signing of, 160 

Trenor, Eustace, reprimand of, 169 

Trident (Steamboat), 86 

Turkey Creek, 9 

Turkey River, dragoons on, 89 

Turkey River Agency, 115 

Turkeys, abundance of, 193, 215 

Turner, Lieutenant, 53, 120, 258 

Turtle Lake, exploration of, 110; ref- 
erence to, 257 

Turtle River, 165 

Uniforms, variety of, 6 ; cost of, 6 ; 
garments of, 6 

United States, army of, 1 

Upper Red Fork of the Arkansas Riv- 
er (see Salt Fork of the Arkansas 
River) 

Unswatoy's Ferry, 189 

Van der Zee, Jacob, 256, 257 

Vegas, 148 

Verdigris River, 183; timber along, 

189; tributary of, 190 
Vigil, Juan B., 149 
Vose, J. H., enlistments by, 2 

Wabasha (Chief), village of, 55, 56; 

treaty with, 56 
Wacoah Indians, 45 
Wahpeton (North Dakota), 262 



282 



INDEX 



Wahpeton Sioux Indians, dragoons 

among, 116, 117 
Wakarusa Creek, 144 
Walnut Creek, dragoons on, 99, 209; 

buffalo at, 105, 141 
Walsh (North Dakota), 262 
Wapello County (Iowa), 53, 254; 

squatter in, 90 
War College, location of, 176 
War Department, orders from, 49, 62 
Warfield, Colonel, 210 
Warm Spring, 129 
Warner's ranch, dragoons at, 156 
Warrel, Private, 175 
Warren (Ohio), 14 
Wa-sha-shay, 199 
Washington (D. C), Indians invited 

to, 40 
Washington County (Arkansas Terri- 
tory), march to, 26 
Washita River, crossing of, 36; ref- 
erence to, 46 
Weco Indians, 39 
Weld County (Colorado), 259 
Wellsville (Ohio), 14 
West, development of, 12 
West Point (New York), Davis in, 

14; reference to, 92, 176 
Weston (Missouri), 172 
We-ter-ra-shah-ro (Chief), council 
with, 42; visit of, to Fort Gibson, 
45 
Wharton, Captain, escort commanded 
by, 30; reference to, 103, 257; 
death of, 169 
Wheat, price of, 171 



Wheeling (West Virginia), 14 
Wheelock, T. B., 38, 46, 248; journal 

of, 246 
Whipple Lake (Minnesota), 261 
Whiskey, rations of, 4, 5; traders in, 
66, 172; sale of, 83, 95, 96; evils 
of, 86, 128, 129; effects of, 89; 
demand for, 173 
"Whiskey Point", 173 
White, James, 50, 51, 60 
White Rock Creek, 233 
Wild Rice River, 164 
Wind River, 133 
Wind River Mountains, 259 
Winnebago Indians, alarm from, 12; 
cession by, 88; condition of, 89; 
dragoons among, 115 
Winneshiek County (Iowa), 254 
Winona (Minnesota), dragoons near, 

56 
Wisconsin River, dragoons on, 15 
Wislizenus, Adolph, 124, 258 
Wislizenus, Frederick A., 258' 
Wolf Creek, crossing of, 82 
Wolves, 123, 145, 155, 157 
Woodbury County (Iowa), 257 
Woods, Samuel, command of, 161; 
orders to, 161; reference to, 162, 
165; Indian council of, 166; re- 
port of, 168 

Young Men's Christian Association, 
176 

Zandia (Mexico), 152 
Zanesville (Ohio), 14 






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